Body of missing Twin Cities teen found in landfill was beheaded, father charged with murder

The remains of missing teen Jordan “Manny” Collins were found in an Elk River landfill last week, and the boy’s father is now charged with second-degree murder.

Jordan Dupree Collins, Sr., 38, was arrested and charged two months after 16-year-old Manny went missing from Columbia Heights while staying with the elder Collins. Manny had been last heard from on May 8 during a FaceTime with his girlfriend and a text to his mother, Ashley Berry, on the same date.

Police indicated early on in a press conference that they had a person of interest in the case and also that they had been in conversations with Collins Sr. who they said at the time was not particularly helpful with the investigation. Collins Sr. was not specifically linked by police at that time as the person of interest.

A police report was filed with Columbia Heights police on May 12, who got the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office involved a few days later, on May 15.

Information developed along the way in early June led investigators to a landfill in Elk River that was methodically searched with the assistance of the FBI, and Manny’s remains were eventually discovered on June 28 and identified as his on July 1.

FBI Minneapolis’ Evidence Response Team in collaboration with law enforcement agency partners continue conducting the Elk River Landfill search in the case of missing person Jordan “Manny” Collins Jr. pic.twitter.com/tROaAgYwFT

— FBI Minneapolis (@FBIMinneapolis) June 20, 2025

Collins Sr. was arrested on July 7 at the Al-Amaan Community Center in Minnetonka, Karen Scullin reported, and was charged on July 9 in Anoka County District Court.

Details revealed in the criminal complaint state that Manny had been decapitated and that blood stains matching Manny’s DNA were found inside Collins Sr.’s apartment during a search warrant in May. Parts of a mattress and carpeting had been cut away and were missing. Collins Sr. told police that he cut the mattress and carpeting because he was cleaning up his own blood. However, blood located on the mattress and carpet near those same cuttings matched Manny’s DNA, whereas no blood from Collins Sr. was located in the apartment.

Police also recovered several knives from the apartment, including a curved knife with a leather sheath. Collins Sr. told law enforcement that the knives found in his apartment belonged to him and that he used them to butcher goats and sheep.

The criminal complaint stated that a May 13 surveillance video captured a garbage truck emptying a large dumpster located behind Collins Sr.’s residence, which led law enforcement to conduct the large-scale search at the Elk River landfill, where the contents of the dumpster were taken.

Collins Sr. offered statements to investigators that he had last seen Manny on May 10, when he said Manny had left to visit his grandmother in St. Paul. Records also showed that Collins Sr. placed a call to Manny’s phone the day after investigators first contacted him about Manny’s disappearance; the call length was 22 seconds.

A specific motive was not detailed in the criminal complaint, but Manny’s mother had indicated in the initial press conference that Collins Sr. had just recently come back into Manny’s life after some “rocky” times over the prior years. She indicated that Manny and his father had “ups and downs” over religious differences and that Manny “didn’t want to be a part of certain things.”

Collins Sr. made his initial court appearance on Wednesday and was granted a public defender. He is being held on a bail amount of $3 million. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 5.

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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.

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