COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The Boone County prosecutor says vegetation on the boots of Columbia man place him at the site where his Chinese wife’s body was found in March.

Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight said during a hearing Thursday that experts matched juniper needles on Joseph Elledge’s boots to the spot where the body of his wife, Mengqi Ji, was found at a park near Columbia.

Elledge reported Ji missing in October 2019.

Investigators have said they believe Elledge strangled his wife and left her body in the park.

During Thursday’s hearing, Judge Brouck Jacobs denied a defense request to delay Elledge’s trial, which is scheduled to begin Nov. 1.