A Montevallo man is behind bars, accused of using a backhoe to bury the body of a missing Shelby County man and his Ford Ranger, both of which had been set on fire.

John Wesley Collum, 56, is charged with corpse abuse, tampering with physical evidence and hindering prosecution, according to court records.

Collum was arrested earlier this week in connection with the disappearance and suspected death of 36-year-old Oscar De Santiago Soto of Pelham.

Montevallo police earlier this month launched an investigation into the disappearance of Soto, who was last seen about 3:30 p.m. June 18, at Orr Park in Montevallo.

His truck, a 1998 black Ford Ranger, had last been seen heading southbound on Shelby County Road 73 in Montevallo.

On Saturday, June 28, Bibb County Sheriff’s Office officials asked for ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation to launch an investigation into Soto’s case.

Over the course of the investigation, ALEA officials said, the 2000 block of Randolph Road in Montevallo was developed as a location of interest in connection Soto’s disappearance.

It was there, authorities said, they found human remains.

Those remains have been sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to confirm the victim’s identity.

Additional details were not released.

Charging documents against Collum state he helped another man bury human remains and Soto’s black Ford Ranger by using a backhoe.

The criminal complaint said Collum set the victim and the pickup truck on fire and then buried both.

ALEA officials said the investigation is ongoing.

Assisting in the probe is the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigation, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office, and the Montevallo Police Department.

Auburn University’s Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine assisted in recovery of the remains.

More arrests are expected.