SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. – A bizarre case is unraveling in Summersville where two sets of human remains were located in a storage unit.
State Police Sgt. Ron Lilly, the investigating officer, said he received a call Wednesday from a local business owner.
“The owner of the Stor-All facility contacted my office about the discovery of what they believed to be a human leg,” explained Lilly. “[The owner] said he wasn’t sure if it was human or animal. They asked us to come view their discovery.”
When Lilly took a look inside the storage unit, he said there was no doubt the leg was human. But before proceeding, he sought a search warrant for the unit and one to find out who was renting it. Then officers went inside.
“We did discover the badly decomposed remains of two individuals. At least one of them is female,” said Lilly.
The remains were taken to Charleston for an autopsy by the state Medical Examiner’s Office.
While awaiting identification, investigators speculate the remains could belong to two Alabama women reported missing in 2002.
“Alabama has had an active investigation involving a person of interest who is residing in Nicholas County,” Lilly said.
The prosecutor of Walker County, Ala., held a news conference this week saying he believes those remains belong to 104-year-old Mary Cobb and her 84-year-old daughter Wynona Delvecchio. They were last seen at Cobb’s home in Jasper, Ala., under the care of 61-year-old Wanda Faye Kiser, who now lives in Nicholas County.
In July, Kiser was indicted in Alabama on 17 counts of forgery in connection to pension and social security checks of Cobb and Delvecchio. She has been fighting extradition.
Sgt. Lilly said two investigators from Walker County are now in Summersville assisting with the investigation.
“There has not been anyone arrested at this point. We do have a person of interest.”
Lilly said that individual has been interviewed by investigators.
The Walker County prosecutor was quoted as saying there had been an arrest in the case, but Lilly said not on this end. “Right now we do not have anybody in custody, but I look for that to change,” he said.