NEW MURDER CHARGES FILED IN 1999 MISSING WOMEN CASE

(01/10/2014)

Lewis County Sheriff Adam Gissy has arrested Joseph Edward Metz of Horner, charging him with two counts of first-degree murder involving two Lewis County women who disappeared in 1999. Maxine Stalnaker and her daughter, Mary Friend, disappeared in December 1999 after they left their Jane Lew home on a Christmas shopping trip, their bodies never found. Authorities scoured the regional counties for months following the women disappearing. Officials said that based on information gathered by authorities in Lewis and Harrison counties, Metz is responsible for the disappearance and murder of both women. Media outlets report that Metz is Friend's son and Stalnaker's grandson. Three men, including Metz, were initially charged in the slayings, with charges dropped against them. The Lewis County Sheriff's Department has charged David Hughes with conspiracy to commit robbery of Stalnaker and Friend. Hughes is accused of conspiring with Metz and Charles Stephen Freeman to rob Stalnaker and Friend.

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