The estranged husband of a Fort Bragg Army nurse whose charred remains were found near Camp Lejeune was charged with murder and arson in a possible cover-up of the woman's death.
Marine Cpl. John Patrick Wimunc, 23, was arrested and charged Monday with first-degree murder and felony conspiracy to commit arson. A fellow marine, Lance Cpl. Kyle Alden, 22, was arrested on arson charges and is also accused of being an accessory after the fact to murder.
The burned body of Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, 24, was found late Sunday in the Sneads Ferry area by police as they were investigating a brush fire there. She had been missing since Thursday after a fire was set at her Fayetteville apartment.
"It is with profound sadness that our family just received the news from authorities that our beloved daughter Holley is dead," Wimunc's father Jesse James said in a statement. "Since last Thursday's shocking news about Holley's burned apartment and her missing person status, our family through the country has nonetheless been holding on to a thin thread of hope that she would be found alive. Today, that thread of hope broke as her body was discovered."
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Maj. Cliff W. Gilmore, a spokesman with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service took Wimunc and Alden into custody Sunday morning and then transferred them to Fayetteville police.
Alden was being held on $250,000 bond. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
The warrants say John Wimunc and Alden are charged with burning a house inhabited by Daniel and Dena Babcock located at 146 Wayah Creek. Holley Wimunc lived at 146-C Wayah Creek, and it wasn't immediately clear how the Babcocks were involved.
Cops began searching for Holley Wimunc on Thursday after she failed to show up for work at Womack Army Medical Center and co-workers could not find her at home. Investigators found evidence of a fire in her apartment. Her car was in the parking lot, but she was gone.
Fire crews found Wimunc's burned body late Sunday afternoon in the Sneads Ferry area near Camp Lejeune while battling a brush fire there. Sheriff Ed Brown told FOX News that the fire appears to have been set to cover up a crime.
Holley Wimunc, from Dubuque, Iowa, was in the process of divorcing her husband when she disappeared.
Click here for more on this story from WRAL.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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