Missing soldier married to CLNC Marine...

[Phantom Blooper]

Missing soldier married to Camp Lejeune Marine




July 11, 2008 - 6:44PM


Fayetteville authorities were aboard Camp Lejeune this week questioning the Marine husband of a missing female Fort Bragg soldier.
Missing since her apartment was found burned earlier this week, 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc of Lafayette, La., was in the process of going through a bitter divorce with Marine Cpl. John Patrick Wimunc.
Holley Wimunc filed a domestic violence complaint against her husband two months ago, according to The Fayetteville Observer.
Holley Wimunc, assigned to Fort Bragg's Charlie Company at Womack Army Medical Center, filed papers on May 19 that resulted in a temporary restraining order against 23-year-old John Patrick Wimunc. John Wimunc got drunk, held a loaded handgun to her head and his head, Holley Wimunc wrote in the complaint.
"It is key to point out that he has not been accused of anything and he has not been named a suspect," said Maj. Cliff Gilmore, spokesman for the 2nd Marine Division, to which Cpl. Wimunc is assigned.
Cpl. Wimunc is attached to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, and was deployed to Iraq from February to September 2006 and from July 2007 to January 2008.
Gilmore said that Holley Wimunc was not a commissioned officer when the couple was married.
Fayetteville authorities were aboard Lejeune on Thursday and Friday. It was not immediately clear if Cpl. Wimunc had an attorney.
Officials responded to a call about the strong odor of gasoline at the Morganton Place Apartments in Fayetteville on Thursday and found a smoldering fire that had burned two bedrooms. Police are calling it arson and a missing person's investigation.
Wimunc's car was still in the parking lot when police arrived. The Fayetteville Observer said police towed the car to examine it.
"Right now we're still processing a crime scene of arson where she lived at," said Fayetteville Police Department Lt. David Sportsman. "(Thursday) we were contacting family and friends to see if anybody knew where she was at before we released the information (Friday). We wanted to make sure she wasn't somewhere else."
Wimunc arrived at Fort Bragg in August 2007, base officials said.
Also Friday, authorities said a second autopsy of a pregnant Fort Bragg soldier found dead in a Fayetteville motel June 21 confirms she was the victim of a homicide. Army Spc. Megan Touma, 23, of Cold Spring, Ky., was found June 21 in the bathroom of a motel room after a maintenance supervisor smelled a four odor coming from her room. The cause of her death hasn't been released. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology conducted the second autopsy at the request of Fayetteville police and military investigations.
Touma was the second dead pregnant servicewoman to be found in North Carolina this year.
The charred remains of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child were discovered in the Half Moon community backyard of a colleague she had accused of rape. Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, charged for first-degree murder in Lauterbach's death, fled Onslow County and was on the run for three months before being arrested in Mexico.

[Bruce59]

Think I'll hold judgment on this one. He came to court and she never showed up, so I can't say her temporary restraining order is the hole truth or not.

Bruce
http://wallofhonor.bravehost.com

[Idena]

I'm friends with her sister-in-law (her brother is also an active-duty Marine), & they (the family) are hoping that she's gone missing in an attempt to hide from her husband rather than that something bad has befallen her ... I think that's the most optimistic thought they can cling to right now. I know a biased side of the story from Holley's SIL, but I definitely know that family needs all the prayers they can get.

[Phantom Blooper]

Body found in shallow grave may be missing soldier

Comments 2 | Recommend 18



July 13, 2008 - 7:41PM
LINDELL KAY AND JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The district attorney for Onslow County strongly suspects the charred remains of a female found Sunday evening buried in a shallow grave in the Sneads Ferry area are those of a missing Fort Bragg soldier.
"Because of the evidence discovered at the scene, I have strong suspicions that the body found belongs to Holley Wimunc," Dewey Hudson, district attorney for the 4th Prosecutorial District, told The Daily News.
Division of Forest Resources personnel discovered the burned female remains Sunday when they responded to a fire about a mile down a dirt road off Old Folkstone Road. Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said the fire appeared to have been set in an effort to cover up the crime.
Two sources close to the investigation told The Daily News that investigators found bladed weapons with the body and that the body had been mutilated.
2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc was declared missing Thursday after a fire was set at her apartment in Fayetteville. She is married to Camp Lejeune Marine Cpl. John Patrick Wimunc. The couple is going through a divorce.
Fayetteville authorities were at Camp Lejeune late last week questioning Cpl. Wimunc, but Marine and civilian officials, as well as Cpl. Wimunc's family, said he has not been named a suspect in her disappearance.
Sunday, the Onslow County Sheriff's Department and Naval Criminal Investigative Services investigators spent hours at the scene near the Chadwick Shores community.
Brown would not say why NCIS is involved in the investigation, nor would he comment on whether the victim was Wimunc.
"I cannot comment on that tonight," Brown said.
The first reports of the fire Sunday came in about 5:30 p.m. and parts of the fire were still smoldering at 10 p.m., Forest Resources officials said.
Authorities released few details Sunday evening, but Brown said more information would be available today.
"The crime scene, which is in the county's jurisdiction, will be guarded by law enforcement overnight, and forensic experts with the FBI will be here in the morning to meticulously remove the remains," Brown said.

Contact Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8452. Read Lindell's blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.

[Phantom Blooper]

Wimunc charged


Lejeune Marine being held in Cumberland County under $500,000 bond


July 14, 2008 - 8:54AM
LINDELL KAY

Camp Lejeune Marine Cpl. John Wimunc has been charged with arson and is being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center with a $500,000 bond, police said.
Wimunc was taken into custody by agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service last Sunday, said Maj. Cliff Gilmore, spokesman for the 2nd Marine Division, to which Cpl. Wimunc is assigned.
It was not immediately clear when custody of Wimunc was transferred to Fayetteville au-thorities.
Wimunc's wife, Fort Bragg soldier 2nd Lt. Holley Lynn Wimunc has been missing since Thursday since her Fayetteville apartment was set fire.
Authorities believe a charred body found in a shallow grave near Camp Lejeune Sunday afternoon is Holley Wimunc.

[Phantom Blooper]

Information released from Sheriff on charred human remains

Authorities believe body could be that of Fort Bragg soldier


July 14, 2008 - 10:10AM


The Onslow County Sheriff's Department released a statement to the media just moments ago regarding the charred remains of what is believed to be the body of a missing Fort Bragg soldier.
"At approximately 5:14 P.M. on Sunday afternoon, July 13, 2008, the Onslow County EOC Center received a call from a citizen in Sneads Ferry reporting he had found the charred remains of a human body off Old Folkstone Road.
Deputies, Investigators, and CSI Investigators of the Onslow County Sheriff's Office responded to a desolate location about 1.5 miles back in the woods off Old Foldstone Road. Deputies and Investigative Personnel had to be transported to the location where the remains were by the Sneads Ferry Fire Chief in his 4-wheel drive vehicle due to the untraveled conditions of the road from the main road to the location.
Once arriving at the location and viewing the scene and remains, it immediately became a flashback account of the Maria Lauderbach murder of January 11th of this year.
Paraphernalia around the charred remains gave investigators strong suspicions this was the missing Army Lieutenant female missing from Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Because of this strong suspicion, NCIS, the Fayetteville Police Department, and the State SBI were contacted and summoned to the scene. It being very late and night closing in, Investigators decided to secure the scene and place a guard until daylight Monday morning, July 14, 2008.
After the scene was secured, Sheriff Brown, along with two Investigators of the Fayetteville Police Department, went to the brother's home of the suspected victim. Also at that home were the suspected victim's father and a cousin. While there had yet to be a positive identification of the charred human remains, it was decided to inform family members as to prevent them from being shocked by any media report that might indicate otherwise.
After leaving the home of the possible victim's brother, the two Fayetteville Police Department Investigators went to the Office of NCIS aboard Camp Lejeune.
This morning the exhumation of the remains began and the procedure will likely take most of the day."

[Phantom Blooper]

Two Marines in custody, charged with arson




July 14, 2008 - 10:40AM
Staff reports

Lance Cpl. Kyle Ryan Alden and Cpl. John Wimunc are in the custody of the Fayetteville Police Department, a Marine spokesman said.
Alden and Wimunc, both assigned to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion at Camp Lejeune, were taken into Naval Criminal Investigative Services custody about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, said Maj. Cliff Gilmore, spokesman for the 2nd Marine Division, of which 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion is a part.
Both men have been charged with first-degree arson by Fayetteville Police Department in connection with a fire at the apartment of Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc. Holley Wimunc was declared missing Thursday after she did not show up for work and authorities discovered the remains of a fire at her Fayetteville home.
Sunday evening, firefighters in Onslow County discovered a charred body in a shallow grave in the Sneads Ferry area, approximately a mile off Old Folkstone Road near the Chadwick Shores community. Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said the fire appeared to have been set in an effort to cover up the crime.
District Attorney Dewey Hudson said he has "strong suspicions," based on the evidence, that the body is that of Army 2nd Lt. Holley Lynn Wimunc, though authorities have not confirmed the body is hers. Wimunc, a nurse at Womack Army Medical Center, is married to Cpl. Wimunc.
No charges have been filed in connection with Holley Wimunc's death.

[Big Jim]

Geezus...what The Hell Is Happening Here?! What Ever Happened To Just Going Separate Ways If It Doesn't Work Out? I Dunno Brothers...somethings Coming Across Wrong Here And It Doesn't Smell Too Good..

[hrscowboy]

I wanna know how an officer and enlisted got together and the higher ups didnt catch it.. back in our day your arse would be mud being with an Officer.. I guess the UCMJ aint crap anymore..

[Phantom Blooper]

Gilmore said that Holley Wimunc was not a commissioned officer when the couple was married.

[Phantom Blooper]

Marine charged with first-degree murder





July 14, 2008 - 3:17PM
Staff reports

The husband of a missing Fort Bragg soldier has been charged with first-degree murder for her death.
Cpl. John Patrick Wimunc, 23, a Camp Lejeune Marine, was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree murder, first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit first-degree arson, according to a news release from the Fayetteville Police Department.
Kyle Ryan Alden, 22, also a Marine at Camp Lejuene, was charged with felony accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit first-degree arson. The Marines are in Cumberland County Detention Center.
The arrests came after a charred body was found in the woods near Camp Lejeune on Sunday. Authorities believe is the body is that of Army 2nd Lt. Holley Lynn James Wimunc, but have not yet confirmed that information.
"We initially saw paraphernalia that indicated it could be the missing lieutenant from Fayetteville," Sheriff Ed Brown said Monday. "This appears to be Fayetteville's case, from the very onset yesterday."
Holley Wimunc was declared missing Thursday after she failed to show up for work and authorities discovered the remains of a fire at her Fayetteville apartment.
"The suspicion is that the murder possibly happened ... in Cumberland County" and the remains were brought to Onslow, Brown said. "The crime scene is in Onslow County, but it will be prosecuted in Fayetteville."
Wimunc and Alden had been under close supervision, which Brown likened to house arrest, for the past few days.
"Indications were that the fire was not set yesterday," he said.
The body will be sent to the North Carolina State Medical Examiners Office in Chapel Hill for an autopsy to conclusively determine the identity of the victim and cause of death, according to the Fayetteville police press release.
The body was found in a shallow grave that did not entirely cover the body, Brown said. A hand, not attached to an arm, was sticking up from the ground, which Brown said bore a "haunting similarity" to the discovery of the bodies of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child.
Lauterbach's burned remains were found in January, buried in the backyard of fellow Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean. Brown said then that the image of the fetus' hand and tiny curled fingers would stick with him forever.
The scene Sunday "became a nightmare ... and stayed unfortunately familiar," Brown said.

[Phantom Blooper]

Accessory suspect has previous assault charge




July 16, 2008 - 7:43PM
LINDELL KAY
DAILY NEWS STAFF
A Camp Lejeune Marine charged in connection with the death of another Marine's wife was charged with assaulting his own wife in April.
Kyle Ryan Alden, 22, of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, was charged Monday by the Fayetteville Police Department with felony accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit first-degree arson.
Authorities say he helped a colleague, John Wimunc, 23, also of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, in an attempt to cover up the killing of Wimunc's wife, Fort Bragg soldier 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc.
In April, an investigative sergeant with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department was dispatched to the Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital because Alden's wife, Dawn Alden, 44, said her husband had assaulted her.
"I spoke to the victim who stated her husband does this all the time," Sgt. Shannon Albright wrote in his April 12 report. "He will grab her, push her but he never hits her."
Albright reported that the Aldens argued over a cell phone and that Kyle Alden wanted Dawn Alden to get in his truck. When she refused, Albright reported, "the suspect picked her up and threw her into the back of the truck."
Dawn Alden told Albright that she got away from her husband and got into her car, and Kyle Alden chased her in his truck.
Dawn Alden had no physical injuries at the time, according to the report.
Albright stated in his report that he advised Dawn Alden she could file a warrant for her husband's arrest at the magistrates office. Dawn Alden later left the hospital without being discharged, according to the report.
Dawn Alden filed a complaint with a magistrate, and Kyle Alden was arrested April 13 on a charge of misdemeanor assault on a female.
Kyle Alden is accused of "punching, pulling and twisting (Dawn Alden's) arm," according to the warrant.
A message left for Dawn Alden at her home was not returned by press time.
Kyle Alden has a July 28 court date in Onslow County for the assault charge. His next expected court date in Cumberland County for the accessory charge is set for Aug. 5.
Kyle Alden and John Wimunc are being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center with no bond for the charges related to Holley Wimunc's death.
John Wimunc was charged Monday by Fayetteville police with first-degree murder, first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit first-degree arson.
Their arrest came less than 24 hours after forestry service personnel found a dismembered body believed to be Holley Wimunc, knives and a hatchet in a wooded area off Old Folkstone Road in Sneads Ferry on Sunday.
The wooded area - down a dirt road less than a mile from Alden's house on Eagle's Nest Drive - is littered with bags of trash, beer cans, broken furniture, shell casings and shotguns shells.
"People go back there four-wheeling all the time, late at night sometimes," said Iola Brown, an Old Folkstone Road resident who lives across the road from the entrance to the dirt road.
John Wimunc was questioned by Fayetteville police and has been under military guard since Thursday when his wife was reported missing after her Fayetteville apartment was set fire.
In May, Holley Wimunc secured a temporary restraining order against her husband. She told authorities he got drunk and held a loaded handgun to her head.
Marine officials would not comment on whether a military protective order - similar to a civilian restraining order - had been issued against John Wimunc or Kyle Alden.
"Military Protective Orders are an administrative tool and as such are protected under the privacy act. Therefore information related to MPOs will not be released to the public," Maj. Cliff W. Gilmore, spokesman for the 2nd Marine Division, told The Daily News in an e-mail Wednesday.
Agents with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service deferred all questions about the case to the Fayetteville Police Department.
When contacted about Alden's April arrest, Fayetteville police said they had not heard about the charge but would be looking into the past of both men now that they are in custody.
"We don't know a lot about them at this point, but we are now gathering that information," Fayetteville police Lt. David Sportsman said. "This case turned over so fast that we had to concentrate on what was hot at the time, but now we will follow up on every aspect of the suspects' lives."

Contact crime reporter Lindell Kay at lkay@freedomenc.com or 910-554-8534. Read Lindell's blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.