PARSONS — A Tucker County man has been arrested after investigators found skeletal remains under a shed behind his house during a search for the body of his ex-wife, State Police said Friday.
Wesley Cale Sr., 42, is charged with concealing a body and is being held on $150,000 cash bond at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail, First Sgt. J.A. Wise said.
Cale was arrested at a makeshift camp near Lead Mine in rural Tucker County on Friday afternoon, Wise said. Cale was accompanied by his current wife and his eldest son, but Wise said neither was arrested.
Wise says it is uncertain whether Cale has an attorney.
Officers looking for the body of Cale’s former wife, Bonnie, found human remains under the dirt floor of a small shed behind Cale’s home Wednesday. Bonnie Woods-Cale has been missing since March 2002.
Police are waiting for the state medical examiner to identify the remains and determine the cause of death, Wise said.
“From the state of the body, it appears to us that it wasn’t like that person took their own life. Plus it was buried,” Wise said. “We’re treating the investigation as a homicide.”
Troopers have searched Wesley Cale’s property near the Tucker-Preston county line before, but decided to return after reopening the case recently, Wise said. This time they returned with ground-penetrating radar to check three sites that interested them, he said.
Information on a State Police Web site for missing adults says Bonnie Woods-Cale was last seen leaving her home March 24, 2002 and had indicated she was heading to Cleveland to obtain a birth certificate for her daughter. Her vehicle was found in Webster County.
Wesley Cale was granted a divorce at some point after Woods-Cale disappeared, Wise said.
West Virginia
Body found during search for ex-wife; man arrested
- West Virginia
-
-
Three aging state power plants to close
FirstEnergy Corp. announced Wednesday it will shut down three aging coal-fired power plants in West Virginia later this year.
The company’s Monongahela Power subsidiary will retire the Albright, Willow Island and Rivesville power stations by Sept. 1, affecting a total of 105 workers. -
Bills would ban children from tanning, tattoos
West Virginia lawmakers are looking to protect children from unhealthy decisions and to give parents more say in their children’s body art choices.
Bills moving through the Legislature would set the minimum age minors can receive their first tattoo and would ban indoor tanning for all children. -
Hackers post officers’ personal information
Hackers affiliated with the group Anonymous obtained personal information for more than 150 police officers from an old website of the West Virginia Chiefs of Police Association and posted the data online.
The FBI is investigating, said William Roper, the association’s president and the police chief of Ranson said. -
Bill would clarify secretary of state’s power
A West Virginia legislator wants state law to say clearly that the secretary of state has the authority to verify whether candidates running for election are eligible to hold office.
Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, introduced a bill Tuesday that would allow the secretary to refuse to certify candidates and keep them off the ballot if they don’t meet all the legal and constitutional requirements to serve. -
USDA kills 8 coyotes at University Town Centre
U.S. Department of Agriculture employees have killed eight coyotes in a hilltop shopping center complex near Morgantown. They aren’t sure how many remain nearby.
-
Texting bill evolves, heads to House
West Virginia drivers could get a ticket for texting or talking on their cellphone while driving under a bill the Senate unanimously approved Monday.
-
W.Va. texting bill evolves, heads to House
The Senate has approved a bill that would allow police to ticket drivers for texting or talking on their cellphones while on the road.
-
Report: Residents lacking savings
A nonprofit group says nearly one in five West Virginia residents have almost no savings or other assets to weather a financial crisis.
-
Lawmakers navigate lobby ban, social media
In this era of Twitter and smartphones, citizens and lobbyists alike have all sorts of ways to reach out to lawmakers at a moment’s notice. But the West Virginia Legislature has rules meant to insulate its members from last-minute pressures while they’re debating and voting on bills.
-
Firm shows off ‘Guardian Angel’ for miners
A West Virginia company is working on a piece of equipment designed to keep miners safer.
Trinity Resources, headquartered in Putnam County, demonstrated its a mobile mine safety chamber this week at the West Virginia Mining Symposium in Charleston. - More West Virginia Headlines
-
Three aging state power plants to close
