WV WV - Judith Petty, 48, Parkersburg, 6 Feb 2008

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http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/501970.html?nav=5061

8 Feb 08

Investigators are attempting to determine if a fire Thursday is related to a missing-person case.

The fire occurred at an abandoned farmhouse on West Virginia 31, said Chief Kim Marshall of Deerwalk Volunteer Fire Department. The property is owned by Marvin Petty, the father of Judith Petty, who went missing Wednesday evening, according to Parkersburg police.

Investigators do not know if the missing woman was inside the structure at the time of the fire. A search produced no results Thursday, but investigators planned to return today to continue sifting through the debris. No one was living in the house at the time of the blaze.

Firefighters from Deerwalk and Waverly Volunteer Fire Department responded to the property around 9:30 a.m., Marshall said. Crews arriving on scene found the structure was destroyed.

“Obviously, the structure was already burned. It was on the ground. Another adjoining building was also burned,” Marshall said.

The property was inaccessible for the majority of the departments’ vehicles. A crew in a four-wheel-drive brush truck approached the residence, but the vehicle had limited water-carrying capacity, Marshall said.

“It was inaccessible. We could only get up there with a four-wheel-drive brush truck that only had a couple of hundred gallons of water on it,” Marshall said.

The structure was unoccupied and was being used for storage, Marshall said.

“We don’t know if she was out there or not. We’re going back out in the morning if we don’t hear from her tonight. We’ll be back out there tomorrow for some more searching,” said Chief Terry Hefner, Waverly VFD.

Judith Petty, 48, of Parkersburg was last seen around 5 p.m. Wednesday when she left her north Parkersburg home to return books to Parkersburg-Wood County Public Library, said Sgt. J.D. Hart of the Parkersburg Police Department. She was last seen around 36th Street and Emerson Avenue, he said.

The missing woman has brown hair, weighs about 250 pounds and is 5 feet 4 inches tall. She has a history of medical problems but does not have a history of running away or becoming lost, Hart said.

Anyone with information on the missing woman should call the police department at (304) 424-8444.

no pic at link
 
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/502077.html?nav=5061

10 Feb 08

Fire crews searching a fire scene near Waverly found a human body during a Saturday morning search.

Wood County Coroner Mike St. Clair said the body was found around 11 a.m. Saturday. St. Clair and the firefighters were on the scene until 6 p.m.

“We have determined the remains are human and they have been sent to the medical examiner’s office in Charleston,” he said. “It could take 10 days to a month before they are able to identify the body.”

St. Clair said searchers spent the rest of the day sifting through debris on the scene.

The fire occurred Thursday at an abandoned farmhouse on West Virginia 31 near Waverly. The property is owned by Marvin Petty, the father of Judith Petty, who went missing Wednesday evening, according to Parkersburg police.

more at link
 
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/502200.html?nav=5061

:mad: :mad:

snippet==================

WAVERLY — Remains found in a burned-out building have been identified as those of a Parkersburg woman who’s been missing since last week.

Mike St. Clair, Wood County coroner, said Thursday that human remains found Saturday at the residence on West Virginia 31 are those of Judith Petty. Petty, who has a history of medical problems but no history of running away, officials said, disappeared last Wednesday.

The identity of the body was confirmed through dental records by the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office, St. Clair said.

“We were able to obtain her dental records from area dentists who had seen her,” St. Clair said.

Investigators said several bone fragments were found in an outbuilding next to the farmhouse. The outbuilding also was destroyed in the blaze, officials said.

The fire occurred last Thursday at an abandoned farmhouse on West Virginia 31 near Waverly. The property is owned by Marvin Petty, the father of Judith Petty, who went missing Wednesday evening, according to Parkersburg police.

The cause of the fire has not been determined. The investigation is ongoing.

Judith Petty, 48, was last seen around 5 p.m. last Wednesday when she left her north Parkersburg home to return books to the Parkersburg-Wood County Public Library and was observed around 36th Street and Emerson Avenue, police said.


============================
Rest in peace Ms Petty.
 
From February 2015:

http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page...ily-hopes-for-closure-in-murder.html?nav=5061

Joan Petty points out she is 77 years old. It's been difficult the past seven years waiting for the murder to be solved, she said. "We're hoping this year is going to be the year for an arrest," she said.

The family believes it knows who committed the crime, said Marvin Petty. "It's being able to prove it." A full-time cold-case investigator is needed in Wood County, a detective who will only work on such cases, Marvin Petty said...

But it's not easy and is still painful, Joan Petty said. She pointed out Judith Petty's remains were mistakenly released by the medical examiner to the wrong family and buried in Jackson County. "It's hard to explain. Until somebody has been through it..." Joan Petty, her voice trailing off, said.
 
8 years later, family still seeking justice for the murder of Judy Petty

http://www.thenewscenter.tv/content/news/8-years-later-family-still-seeking-justice-for-the-murder-of-Judy-Petty-368093111.html

Tips have come to a halt making no progress in the investigation. The Wood County Sheriff's Office says this isn't a cold case and they need more information to make an arrest.

"We've had information that's focused us on an individual, don't know if we could say he's a bonafide suspect at this point. We are going to need a lot more information to link him to it and be able to move forward," says Captain Mark King, Wood County Sheriff's Office.

"This is the eighth year, and as long as any of us are still a live, we're going to keep it out there, try to keep it out there because we feel we want justice for Judy," says Judy's mother, Joan Petty.

Justice for Judith Lynn Petty - Facebook Page
 
Nine years later, family remains hopeful Wood County woman’s murder will be solved

http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/local-news/2017/02/nine-years-later-family-remains-hopeful-wood-county-womans-murder-will-be-solved/

A family remains hopeful justice will be brought upon the person responsible for the death of a Wood County woman nine years ago.

“The pain doesn’t go away,” said Kelly Poiani, whose sister Judith Petty’s remains were recovered Feb. 9, 2008, in a burned out building on a farm owned by their father, Marvin Petty, on West Virginia 31 in Waverly. She was reported missing several days earlier.

“It’s going to take the right person to make the phone call who knows something,” said Poiani, who lives in Cocoa Beach, Fla. Parents Marvin and Joan Petty reside in Parkersburg.

Lt. Bruce Riffle, chief of the law enforcement division in the sheriff’s department, also remains hopeful a resolution will come some day. He keeps the files in his office to remind him.

“I see it every day,” Riffle said.
 
By Mitchell Blahut
Oct. 24, 2022
''PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - A group of cold case investigators is coming to the Wood County area to look into a 14-year old cold case.

In February of 2008, Judy Petty died in a structure fire at her family’s farm.

Petty’s family and others saying that Judy died before the fire and that it is a homicide. And the remains of petty being mishandled and the funeral for petty receiving another person’s remains.

The group looking into the case is a volunteer cold case investigation team from American Military University. The team says it came across the Judy Petty case from submissions to AMU from multiple sources.''

''The group says it will be meeting with an arsonist expert next and that it has a podcast and Facebook group up about the Judy Petty cold case called “Safe Haven.”

Petty family remembering Judith Petty on 14-year anniversary (wtap.com)

Judy Petty’s family seeks answers about her mysterious death (wtap.com)

Justice for Judy; 10 year anniversary of mysterious death of Judith Petty (wtap.com)
 

PARKERSBURG — An independent group of investigators has taken on a cold case from 14 years ago in Wood County.

The American Military University Cold Case Investigations Team of Charles Town, W.Va., is investigating the murder of Judy Petty of Parkersburg, whose body was found in February 2008 in the burned remains of a building on the family farm in Waverly.

“She probably knew the person,” investigator Jennifer Bucholtz said.

Investigators from the cold case team were in the area last month, speaking with family and law enforcement, examining the site where Petty was found and trying to develop new leads by frequenting night spots and asking people cold what they knew about the murder.

“We got some really good insight from them,” Bucholtz said.
 
PETTY-Judith.jpg

Judith Petty

Petty’s body was found by her father in February 2008 in a burned-out barn on property her family owned in Waverly several days after the fire. She was 48 at the time and was last seen in the area of the Parkersburg-Wood County Public Library.

A raffle of gifts donated by businesses and individuals from the community will be held at the NET, Sandberg said. Besides the raffle, residents can also meet and speak with Sandberg, fellow investigator Jennifer Bucholtz, author George Jared and the Petty family, she said.
 
“People have donated tons of stuff,” said Melissa Sandberg, the lead investigator on the case for the Safe Haven cold case investigation team. “People have brought in handmade crafts and coupons. We really had a variety of prizes.”

Their goal for the fundraiser was to have more than fifty people come in, which was met. Petty’s family raised $1,133 to increase the reward for information in the case; with an estimated dollar per ticket, Petty’s family sold around 1,000 tickets. The reward is now estimated to be around $7,000.

Petty disappeared on Feb 6, 2008, and this year marks fifteen years since her death. Her case is still unsolved and it remains unclear on whether or not she was murdered.
 
07-14-23-Petty-Case-Cellar-tle-1100x746.jpg

Alan Haskins goes into the cellar where the remains of Judith Petty were found after a fire in February 2008. The American Military University Cold Case Investigations Team from Charles Town, W.Va., also known as the Safe Haven team, was in Parkersburg this past weekend acting on new information.

“We’ve actually got two new leads on this case,” said Melissa Sandberg, a member of the American Military University Cold Case Investigations Team from Charles Town, W.Va., also known as the Safe Haven team.
 
I am so incredibly hopeful for a conclusion to this case! Way to go Military University cold case!!!
 

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