An Alabama man called police over the weekend and told them his wife was missing, but it turned out he had strangled her to death and dumped her body into a creek bed miles away from their home.

Stephen Miller Sr. played the part of the worried husband, including begging local media to run Gloria Miller’s photo in hopes of finding her, until Tuesday when police say they’d come to the conclusion his claims made no sense and he finally admitted what he’d done, WTVY reported.

“Late Saturday evening there was an altercation that took place … that altercation turned physical,” Dothan Police Lieutenant Ronald Hall said during news briefing.

After that, he loaded the body into his pick up truck and drove to genevea County to dispose of it.

“He basically knew his (claims) were not adding up and he basically knew that he had no choice (but to confess),” Hall said.

Police said the couple had a history of filing domestic abuse complaints against each other several times during their 30-year marriage.

Miller has been charged with murder and was ordered held on a $1.5 million bond.