UPDATE: Collegedale homicide suspect pleads not guilty as police search for victim’s body

Kian Neal at his arraignment hearing in Collegedale Wednesday.

UPDATE 6/19/2026: Collegedale Police announced that the decision has been made to conclude any further recovery efforts for Robert George Locke.

Police and federal partners spent two days searching for Locke’s body at the Birchwood Landfill.

They also say that there is no evidence to support a connection between Locke and suspect Kian Neal.

According to Neal’s own statements he did not know and had never met Locke.

After Neal waived his Miranda Rights, police say they believe the evidence shows that the murder of Locke was planned and premeditated, and that Neal brutally killed and disposed of the body.

Collegedale Police also released a statement saying, “While the Collegedale Police Department does not condone the crimes committed by Robert George Locke in the early 2000s, for which he was convicted and sent to prison, we also cannot condone an act of murder regardless of who the victim may be or what they may have done in the past. Our duty is to uphold the law impartially and to ensure that justice is applied equally to all people.”

The investigation remains active.

COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. (WDEF)- A teenager charged with the murder of a 56 year old man in Collegedale made his initial court appearance Wednesday as police continue to try to find his missing body.

18-year-old Kian Neal made his initial court appearance on Wednesday afternoon in the death of 56-year-old Robert Locke, where he pleaded not guilty to criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, especially aggravated battery, and tampering with evidence.

Collegedale Police assistant chief Jamie Heath says that statements made by Neal himself while in custody at the Hamilton County Jail led them to the Birchwood Landfill off of Birchwood Pike.

Heath said, “With the evidence recovered at the crime scene and statements provide provided by the suspect… Investigators were able to develop information that would suggest that Mr. Locke’s remains are in this landfill.”

Police that in those statements to law enforcement and previously to friends according to a Collegedale Police affidavit, that Neal had admitted to killing Locke and disposing of his body.

A juvenile stated that in that affidavit that according to the friend, that “Locke was a rapist.”

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Locke is on the state’s sex offender registry for a child molestation conviction from 2003.

Collegedale Police say that after those statements, they arrived at the Birchwood Landfill around 7 Wednesday morning, and faced a complex investigation.

Heath explained, “You have go to layer by layer and piece by piece and it’s kind of painstaking, and the fact that it is in a landfill makes it that much more unpleasant.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, they had not located Locke’s body.

Meanwhile, at the arraignment hearing Wednesday afternoon, prosecutor Andrew Moyle of the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office said that they would be ready to present witnesses and evidence at a preliminary hearing if held next week out of interest for public safety.

Public defender Mike Little asked Collegedale City Judge Curtis Bowe to delay that hearing to the middle of July saying that would not give the defense enough time to prepare.

Judge Bowe said, “In an effort to accommodate the attorney general, I understand moving expeditiously and getting this heard. I also understand from the defendant’s perspective the need to have ducks in a row, i’s dotted, and t’s crossed.”

As the case begins the legal process, Collegedale Police say they will continue their investigation, even as members of the public question the process due to Locke’s criminal history.

Heath said, “I realize every victim has a past, but you know at the end of the day they’ve got families just like we’ve got families that need closure and need to know exactly what happened. So justice may look different and different things may happen from time to time. It’s still our responsibility to remain firm, fair and impartial, regardless of the individual.”

Neal will face his preliminary hearing in two weeks on July 1 in Collegedale.

Heath says it is unclear how long the search at the Birchwood landfill may take.