THREE CHARGED IN COLD CASE OF MISSING LEWIS CO. WOMEN

(09/21/2013)

A 14-year-old Lewis County cold case has been cracked with the arrests of three men in connection to the murder and disappearance of a mother and daughter in 1999. The search for Mary Friend and Maxine Stalnaker extended into Calhoun when they disappeared, their bodies were never found. The women were last seen leaving their Lewis County home in December 1999 for a Christmas shopping trip. Their car was found in Harrison County five days later. Their purses were recovered from Stonewall Jackson Lake in 2002. Authorities are saying that Joseph Metz, 39, is allegedly behind their murder. Metz is accused of robbing, kidnapping, and killing his own mother and grandmother. Police say Metz didn't carry out the crime alone and have also charged Steve Freeman and David Hughes. Investigators say they believe Hughes ordered Metz and Freeman to kill the women because they had a tablet full of information about illegal criminal transactions involving the men and the Wilderness Plantation in Jane Lew where Hughes was the owner.

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