HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. — An autopsy on the body of a Berkeley County woman found dead in a Hedgesville home Thursday is set to be conducted today, but investigators are already treating the death of Tracey McCauley, 52, as a homicide.
On Friday police arrested James Love, 37, of North Carolina and charged him with the murder.
Berkeley County Sheriff Kenny Lemaster said the arrest was a quick turn
around for them.
“Total cooperation from all the agencies that helped us and worked with us to bring about an arrest warrant in less than eight hours of the homicide being reported to us,” Lemaster told MetroNews on Friday.
After a call for suspicious circumstances came from a family member around 8:30 p.m., emergency responders arrived to find McCauley’s hogtied body.
While police await an official cause of death, Lemaster said they believe McCauley died earlier Thursday.
The sheriff’s office was assisted by the Berkeley County criminal investigation section, the Eastern Panhandle drug and violent crime task force and the Morgan County Sheriff’s office.