OSBI investigating Stillwater homicide

Earl Oswalt

STILLWATER, OKLA. – On Monday, the Payne County Sheriff’s Office requested that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation assist with an investigation into a missing person case that has evolved into a homicide investigation.

Chelsey Chaffin, 29, last spoke to her mother by text during the evening hours of May 25, which was the last time she was heard from by friends or family. On May 24, Chelsey moved into a residence located in the 2600 block of Gregory Lane in Stillwater. The residence belonged to 54-year-old Earl Oswalt, who worked with Chelsey at a tile company in Stillwater.

The Payne County Sheriff’s Office and the OSBI followed up on dozens of leads in the missing person case that ultimately led to the arrest of Oswalt on a murder complaint. Investigators say he killed Chaffin in the early hours of May 26. At approximately 1 a.m. on May 27, Chaffin’s body was dumped over a bridge into the Cimarron River.

Oswalt is a registered sex offender who spent 20 years in prison on a 60-year sentence for Rape in the First Degree. He was paroled in 2017.

The search continues today in hopes of recovering Chaffin’s body and the investigation is ongoing.