Sallie Rohrbach, 44, [Found Deceased] Raleigh, NC [SUBJECT CHARGED W/MURDER 1st]

[Faith]

Police find missing woman's car

05/18/2008 09:27 AM

By: Kate Gaier



The car was found around 8 a.m. Sunday at a Bojangle's at the intersection of South and West Boulevards.


CHARLOTTE -- Police found the car of a missing woman Sunday morning at a Bojangle’s restaurant just south of uptown.
A missing persons alert is ongoing for 44-year-old Sallie Rohrbach. She is from the Raleigh area and was in Charlotte for business Wednesday.

Police say Rohrbach had an appointment at 1427 South Boulevard, about a half mile from the intersection of West Boulevard, where her car was found, but never showed up.

Her family members say they have not heard from her in four days.

Rohrbach is described as 5-foot-2, about 120 pounds with blonde hair and brown eyes. If you have any information, you are urged to call police immediately.


Missing Woman
News 14 Carolina's Kate Gaier is at the scene with more on the investigation.

http://news14.com/content/top_storie...r/Default.aspx

[Faith]

Search launched after missing Angier woman's vehicle found


Posted: Today at 12:38 p.m.
Updated: Today at 9:01 p.m.
Charlotte, N.C. — Charlotte police launched a ground and air search for a missing Harnett County woman after finding her vehicle Sunday in the Queen City's South End.
Workers reported seeing a state-owned 2007 Chevrolet Malibu in the parking lot of a Bojangles restaurant, 300 West Blvd., shortly before 8 a.m.
That location is about seven blocks away from a strip mall where Sallie Rohrbach, 44, of 839 Chalybeate Springs, was last seen.
Police officers and fire crews began searching a four- to six-block area around the Bojangles. A police helicopter was assisting with the search.
Her belongings were also found Sunday in her Charlotte hotel room. Her work and personal cell phone were turned off, police said.
Police would not say if they thought foul play might have been involved in Rohrbach's disappearance.
Eight armed law-enforcement investigators with the North Carolina Department of Insurance were to join the search and assist police. Rohrbach has worked for the department for eight years.
DOI investigators do not know if Rohrbach's disappearance had anything to do with an administrative complaint against a Charlotte insurance agency she was investigating.
Rohrbach had a scheduled appointment at the Dilworth Insurance Agency on Wednesday.
Such appointments were part of regular duties as an agency examiner, department spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said. If the complaint had been criminal in nature, armed DOI investigators would have been sent.
"Our fervent hope is that Sallie is found safe and sound," spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson wrote in a statement for the insurance department. "Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family."
The statement said "Insurance Commissioner Jim Long and the Department of Insurance remain very concerned for Sally's safety."
Police said Rohrbach was last seen at Dilworth Agency, in the strip mall at 1427 South Blvd., on Wednesday. Rohrbach's supervisor called police after she did not show up for work on Thursday.
"We are hoping and praying that everything is going to turn out OK,” neighbor Jean Smith said.
Rohrbach is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She has blond hair and brown eyes. Her Malibu's North Carolina license plate number is PK5134.

Anyone who sees Rohrbach was asked to call the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department at 704-336-2311 or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2904013/

[packy]

Looks as though officials have been pretty thorough going from door to door to ask questions. Hope someone will come forth and be able to tell something if her story stays in the news enough for awareness.

http://news14.com/Default.aspx?ArID=595842

Investigators went from home to home and business to business in the SouthEnd area on Sunday asking the same question.
"They were just curious if we'd seen the missing woman, asking if we knew anything about the area, the general area where she was last seen, what we were doing, where we were at," said neighbor Bill Cicely.

[Roamer]

This case reminds me of Pam Biggers, for some reason.

I certainly hope she's found safe.

[KittyMom]

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2905513/

Charlotte, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrested a Union County man early Monday and charged him with murder in the case of an Angier woman reported missing last week.

Forty-four-year-old Sallie Rohrbach, an agency examiner for the North Carolina Department of Insurance, was reported missing Thursday after she failed to show up for a meeting with her supervisor, authorities said. She has still not been found.

Michael Arthur Howell, 40, of 5405 Frederick St. in Indian Trail, was charged with one count of murder. He was being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail without bond.

Police released no other details about the case.

Department of Insurance spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said it appears Rohrbach was auditing an administrative complaint at the Dilworth Insurance Agency in Charlotte, where she was Wednesday.

Howell is listed as one of two agents at Dilworth Insurance.

Rohrbach was last seen in uptown Charlotte at a strip mall called Dilworth Station, police said.

The state-owned 2007 Chevrolet Malibu she was driving was recovered Friday morning behind a Bojangles’ restaurant in Charlotte. That prompted investigators to launch a ground and air search.

They also found Rohrbach’s belongings Sunday in her hotel room. Her work and personal cell phones were turned off, police said.

Tim Rohrbach said it wasn't unusual that his wife's work took longer than a week, but he hasn't spoken with her since Tuesday. He said she usually worked in the Raleigh area but went to Charlotte as substitute for a colleague.

"She was actually covering for somebody else," he said.

Anyone with information about Rorhbach’s disappearance or death is asked to contact the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department at 704-336-2311 or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

[KittyMom]

Charge is first-degree murder; car was discovered at Bojangles
VICTORIA CHERRIE; STEVE LYTTLE
vcherrie@charlotteobserver.com; slyttle@charlotteobserver.com

Union County man was arrested overnight and charged with homicide in the case of a missing state insurance investigator.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say Michael Arthur Howell, 40, of Indian Trail was charged with first-degree murder and is being held in a Mecklenburg County jail.

He was taken into custody, detectives say, in connection with the disappearance of Sallie Rohrbach, 40. According to the state insurance Web site, Howell is listed as a registered insurance agent in Charlotte. WCNC-TV, the Observer's news partner, is reporting that Howell worked at Dilworth Insurance Agency, a South Boulevard firm that Rohrbach was investigating.

Rohrbach disappeared in Charlotte last week.

She was the subject of a major search Sunday in the South End business district. Rohrbach, from the town of Angier in Harnett County, arrived in Charlotte last Monday to investigate a complaint at the Dilworth Insurance Agency on South Boulevard in South End.

She was last seen Wednesday, and her car was discovered Sunday morning at a Bojangles restaurant at West Boulevard and South Tryon Street -- less than a half-mile from the insurance agency.

Police still have the insurance agency cordoned off this morning.

Police did not say exactly how they linked Howell to the Rohrbach case. Detectives have told several reporters that Rohrbach's body has not been found.

Rohrbach had been scheduled to return to Raleigh on Friday. But according to N.C. Department of Insurance spokesman Chrissy Pearson, no one has heard from Rohrbach since Wednesday at the insurance agency.

Bojangles' employees found her state-owned Chevrolet Malibu in the parking lot just before 8 a.m. Sunday, Police Capt. Alan Rutledge said. Officers searched the car, but it was unknown Sunday night what, if any, evidence was retrieved.

Police set up a command center in the parking lot of Price's Chicken Coop, a takeout restaurant near the Bojangles'. Officers spent the day canvassing the area with help from Charlotte firefighters, tracking dogs and a police helicopter.

Late Sunday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers were searching inside Dilworth Insurance's office, a spokesman said.

The Insurance Department also has armed investigators who handle criminal complaints. Nine of them converged in Charlotte Sunday to help find the missing woman.

"This is obviously time sensitive and we want to get as much done in as short a time period as we can," Rutledge said.

Rohrbach, who lives in Angier, a Harnett County town southeast of Raleigh, is a field examiner. She gets dispatched to various areas of the state to investigate complaints ranging from an agency not handling books properly or failing to meet requirements to maintain a business.

Often her cases are handed off to criminal investigators. And depending on the investigation, she could stay a day or a week, state officials said.

On this case, Rohrbach, who was covering for a colleague, came to Charlotte last Monday. She'd been staying in the University City area and was scheduled to return to Raleigh on Friday, Pearson said.

"We would have known what her plans were if they had changed," she said.

Pearson couldn't give more details about the complaint Rohrbach was investigating, only that it was not criminal in nature.

"We don't know if (the complaint) is in anyway related to her disappearance or whether it's just a coincidence," Pearson said. "But we are very concerned."

According to Pearson, the last person to see Rohrbach was at the insurance agency on Wednesday between 3 and 4 p.m.

No one from Dilworth Insurance could be reached Sunday.

Rohrbach's husband, Tim, told The Raleigh News & Observer that he last heard from his wife in an e-mail Tuesday. She had plans with friends in Charlotte Wednesday night and never showed up, he said.

She also missed an appointment with a field supervisor in Charlotte Thursday morning. Then she didn't connect as planned with friends on Thursday night, Pearson said.

Insurance department staff reported her missing Friday evening to Charlotte police after being unable to find anyone who'd seen her, Pearson said.

Rohrbach, who has worked for the Insurance Department for eight years is not the type to be out of touch, Pearson said. "We're just very concerned for her safety," she said.

Tim Rohrbach said he was surprised to hear the car had been found at a Bojangles', saying his wife wasn't a fan of fast food.

"She might have gone there to get a diet Pepsi, but she didn't go there to eat," he said. -- The (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed.

WCNC-TV contributed.

Police seek info

Anyone with information on Sallie Rohrbach should call the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department at 704-336-2311 or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. Crimestoppers callers may leave tips anonymously and may be eligible for rewards.


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Observer staff writer Clay Barbour contributed to this report.

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[packy]

A charge of 1st degree murder seems so sudden. I wonder if they have a confession.

[Faith]

Missing State Worker: Murder Charge, No Body


Man Investigated by N.C. Insurance Auditor Held for Murder as Cops Search for Remains

May 19, 2008


North Carolina authorities have charged a man with the murder of a state insurance auditor — but still have not recovered the woman's body.



Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Department announced today the arrest of Michael Arthur Howell, 40, on a charge of first-degree murder in the case of Sallie Rohrbach, 44, according to a police department media release. "Detectives are continuing the investigation and seeking any information that will lead to the location of Mrs. Rohrbach's remains," the release said.
Rohrbach, an agency examiner with the North Carolina Department of Insurance, disappeared Wednesday while conducting an audit of the Dilworth Insurance Agency, which is owned and operated by Howell, police said. Rohrbach was last seen Wednesday afternoon and was reported missing on Friday.
On Sunday, Rohrbach's state-issued Chevrolet Malibu was recovered in the parking lot of Bojangle's restaurant in Charlotte, about a mile from the insurance agency office.





Detectives searched the area by foot and from the air, but did not find the woman's body. Authorities also searched Howell's car and business. Enough information was recovered for investigators to obtain a warrant for Howell's arrest.


It is unclear what type of evidence — or perhaps confession — authorities had in order to obtain an arrest warrant on a murder charge.
"We can't at this time," Robert Fey, a spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Department said when asked about disclosing evidence in the case. "We have not recovered a body."

Howell was arrested late Sunday night and booked early this morning into the Mecklenburg County Jail, where he is being held on the murder charge, police said.
"It's an ongoing investigation," Fey said. "We're still trying to piece together his whereabouts from last Wednesday to the time of his arrest."
No one answered the phone at the Dilworth Insurance Agency. It is unclear whether Howell has retained an attorney.
Rohrbach was an agency examiner whose duties generally included following up on complaints about insurance agencies, according to Chrissy Pearson, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
She was one of four state employees who would be dispatched throughout the state to comb through financial records and meet with insurance agents in question, Pearson said.





In this case, Rohrbach was covering for another investigator when she went to Charlotte to interview Howell, Pearson said.
Pearson would not reveal the exact nature of the complaint against Howell, but she said it was "not unusually grievous in nature." Howell has maintained an insurance license in North Carolina for roughly 20 years, according to Pearson.




Agency examiners work closely with the department's criminal investigators and frequently tap them when a complaint rises to a criminal level. Nothing about Howell's case had triggered any particular alarm.

"Sallie gave us no indication that she needed any additional assistance or that she was uncomfortable," Pearson said.
It is the first time that an agency examiner ever died while working for the state insurance department, she said.
"It's such a mystery on so many levels for us," Pearson added. "It's truly shocking. We never thought that in the course of your duties as an agency examiner that your life would be in danger."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=4887711&page=2

[KittyMom]

http://www.mydailyrecord.com/main.as...23&TM=39576.59


Authorities have charged a Charlotte insurance agent (Michael Arthur Howell, 40, above) with the presumed murder of Sallie Rohrbach (top), an Angier resident who, along with her husband Tim, owns this recently remodeled Colonial-style home (left) on Chalybeate Springs Road, 1 mile outside town. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police continue to comb the area near the Dilworth Insurance Agency, the last place Mrs. Rohrbach was reportedly seen between 3 and 4 p.m. Wednesday.

[KittyMom]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...ovGGAD90PECNO3

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A Charlotte insurance agency owner charged in the death of a North Carolina state insurance investigator is set to appear in court.

Authorities say 40-year-old Michael Arthur Howell (HOW'-el) of Indian Trail is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 44-year-old Sallie Rohrbach (RAW'-bak). Howell's initial court appearance will be held Monday afternoon in Superior Court in Charlotte.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police continue to look for Rohrbach's body.

Ronhrbach is a Department of Insurance investigator who traveled to Charlotte early last week to audit Howell's Dilworth Insurance Agency. When family and co-workers didn't hear from her by Friday, they called police.

Authorities say Rohrbach's slaying was connected to her duties as an auditor, and that evidence was found in both her car and Howell's vehicle.