A 50-year-old convicted sex offender has been charged in connection with the disappearance of a Trussville woman who vanished after leaving a Lakeview bar.

Fredrick Hampton, of Brighton, is being sought on a charge for abuse of corpse. He is not charged in connection with Paighton Houston’s death, only with actions authorities say he took following her death which in this case would be burying her.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office has not yet determined the cause and manner of death. They are awaiting the results of additional testing, including toxicology, before the report is complete. The testing takes four to six weeks.

"What we know is no physical trauma to the body of the victim would have led to her death. We have evidence the victim and the offender were together the night of Dec. 20, 2019,'' said Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief David Agee in a Thursday press conference.

“We have evidence the victim died the next day at a house on McClain Street in Brighton. We have evidence that after the victim died, her body was disposed of in a criminal manner by Fredrick Hampton.”

The body of the 29-year-old Houston was found Friday, Jan. 3, wrapped in sheets and buried in a shallow grave behind the house at 215 Chapel Drive. That house belongs to relatives of Hampton.

According to Alabama law, a person commits the crime of abuse of a corpse if he or she knowingly treats a human corpse in a way that would “outrage ordinary family sensibilities.” It is a Class C felony.

Hampton was initially held in the Birmingham City Jail on a 48-hour extension on suspicion of kidnapping beginning Saturday, Dec. 28, but was released two days later because investigators did not have enough to charge him with any crime.

Agee said investigators have determined Houston was with Hampton on Dec. 20, 2019 and Dec. 21, 2019. She died on Dec. 21 at a house on McClain Street in Brighton, he said. Asked if Houston was with Hampton willingly and voluntarily, Agee said, “We are saying they were together. There is no evidence there was any force.”

Agee thanked the agencies who helped the sheriff’s office in the investigation, including the Metro Area Crime Center, Trussville police, Hueytown police and Birmingham police. He also thanked Crime Stoppers, which received multiple tips that ultimately led to the recovery of Houston’s remains.

"A lot of evidence came in through Crime Stoppers,'' he said. "The investigators did a great job of following up on that information and tracking down the location of the victim. "

No additional arrests are imminent in the case. "This offender is responsible of this crime, disposing of the corpse in this manner,'' he said. “Additional charges are possible depending on what evidence becomes available.”

He did not say Hampton is believed to be armed and dangerous, just that he is a wanted man.

"We want to get him into custody,'' Agee said. “We would hope he would turn himself in. That would be best for everyone.”

Hampton was previously convicted in 1992 on first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy charges out of Jefferson County. He served 20 years, five months and 26 days in prison before his release on March 22, 2012. He was also charged with kidnapping, but that charge was dismissed.

Details about those March 5, 1991 crimes weren’t immediately available but a sex offender notification states “the offender, along with seven other men, committed rape Rape 1st and Sodomy 1st on an adult female.”

Shortly after the completion of his prison sentence, Hampton was arrested again for failure to provide authorities with his new address, which is required by law for convicted sex offenders. He pleaded guilty to that charge in September 2012 and received a two-year suspended sentence.

Houston vanished Dec. 20. She was last seen at Tin Roof in the 2700 block of Seventh Avenue South. According to Birmingham police, she left the bar about 10:45 p.m. with two heavy-set black males. Sgt. Johnny Williams said it was reported that Houston left the location willingly with the two men.

She had reportedly gone to the Birmingham bar with co-workers. Friends on Facebook said Houston didn’t know the men and that the last text message from her to a coworker – about two hours after she left Tin Roof - stated she didn’t know where she was, and she felt she might be in trouble. She had sent multiple messages to her co-worker, the last one reading, “Idk who im with so if I call please answer. I feel in trouble.” That text was sent at 12:15 a.m. Dec. 21 but not seen by her coworker until nearly two hours later.

Similar cases have happened around the state.

In 2014, a Pinson woman’s body was found burning behind an abandoned Fairfield home. Kenneth Lamar Childers and Nathaniel Fortune were charged with abuse of corpse following the death of 22-year-old Megan Elizabeth Monroe.

Monroe’s remains were discovered April 19, 2014 behind an empty house in the 500 block of 40th Street. Authorities determined Monroe was already dead from an alleged drug overdose when the two men put Monroe’s body behind the house and set it on fire, according to the indictments against Childers and Fortune. Childers went to police nine days later and confessed what he had done and identified Fortune as the second suspect. Police also obtained video of the two men buying gas.

Both men eventually pleaded guilty to the felony charge. Childers was sentenced to six years in prison; Fortune to 10 years in prison. Fortune had previous convictions for attempted murder, possession of cocaine and carrying a pistol without a license.

In November 2017, the body of 27-year-old Melissa Ann Cleckler was found on Egg and Butter Road near Oak Drive in Columbiana. Her body had been at the location for a couple of days before the discovery. The cause and manner of her death was never determined.

Allen Dion Jones, 44, of Jemison, and Anthony Scott Germany, 42, were charged with abuse of corpse. Both men pleaded guilty to the charge in 2018 and received nine-year suspended sentences.

Anyone with information on Hampton’s whereabouts is asked to call 911, the sheriff’s office at 205-325-1450 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.