Dive Teams Find Missing Man in White River
By: Cassidy Hodges
Updated: July 15, 2012
Washington County Sheriff's Office has confirmed the body found in the White River is Chris Kelley.
Deputies were looking for him because he may have been stabbed during a fight Saturday night.
It started with a few rods and reels.
"A lot of times people get to drinking, tempers will start to rise a little bit," says Sargent Kenneth Albright, with the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
A Saturday night fishing trip that escalated into a 14 hour search for a missing victim on the White River near Elkins.
"Looks like they were down at the river, got into an altercation and at that time a stabbing occurred," says Albright.
Then deputies say Jacob Holly, 27, flagged down an off duty police officer by the Highway 74 bridge, saying he just stabbed two people: Shawn Kelley and his father Chris Kelley.
"He thought they were trying to drown him. It may have been when the fight was going on, like I said the investigators are still piecing all that together. Pretty sure there was some alcohol involved on all parts," says Albright.
According to detectives, Holly claimed the men tried to drown him and he stabbed them both with a knife. Alcohol is believed to be involved.
At the scene, Holly was arrested and Shawn Kelley was taken to the hospital, but his dad Chris was missing, sparking a search for the possibly wounded 44 year old.
"Last night they had lights thermal imaging and obviously wanted to come back today in the light to make sure there wasn't something that was missed last night," says Albright.
In a final effort, the dive team came out Sunday and after about 2 hours in the water, they recovered the body of Chris Kelley.
With the new information, Holly was re-arrested Sunday. He's now facing a charge of second degree murder.
But the investigation isn't over.
"This is evidently a fairly popular area for people to drink and fish so if anyone was down around this area and may have seen anything, we're asking them to contact the sheriff's office," says Albright.
Deputies were looking for him because he may have been stabbed during a fight Saturday night.
It started with a few rods and reels.
"A lot of times people get to drinking, tempers will start to rise a little bit," says Sargent Kenneth Albright, with the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
A Saturday night fishing trip that escalated into a 14 hour search for a missing victim on the White River near Elkins.
"Looks like they were down at the river, got into an altercation and at that time a stabbing occurred," says Albright.
Then deputies say Jacob Holly, 27, flagged down an off duty police officer by the Highway 74 bridge, saying he just stabbed two people: Shawn Kelley and his father Chris Kelley.
"He thought they were trying to drown him. It may have been when the fight was going on, like I said the investigators are still piecing all that together. Pretty sure there was some alcohol involved on all parts," says Albright.
According to detectives, Holly claimed the men tried to drown him and he stabbed them both with a knife. Alcohol is believed to be involved.
At the scene, Holly was arrested and Shawn Kelley was taken to the hospital, but his dad Chris was missing, sparking a search for the possibly wounded 44 year old.
"Last night they had lights thermal imaging and obviously wanted to come back today in the light to make sure there wasn't something that was missed last night," says Albright.
In a final effort, the dive team came out Sunday and after about 2 hours in the water, they recovered the body of Chris Kelley.
With the new information, Holly was re-arrested Sunday. He's now facing a charge of second degree murder.
But the investigation isn't over.
"This is evidently a fairly popular area for people to drink and fish so if anyone was down around this area and may have seen anything, we're asking them to contact the sheriff's office," says Albright.
