CHARLOTTE � Blood from a state insurance investigator found dead last week was detected inside a Charlotte insurance agency she was auditing, according to a search warrant released Tuesday.
The warrant said 40-year-old Michael Howell of Indian Trail initially allowed Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to search his Dilworth Insurance Agency. But after they discovered blood on the carpet and a computer cord, Howell stopped them and said they�d have to come back with a warrant. When they did, detectives seized materials in Howell�s office and car they say link him to Sallie Rohrbach�s slaying.
�It is believed that there is probable cause that evidence of murder is contained within the business,� according to the police search warrant. Howell has been charged with first-degree murder.
Rohrbach, 44, was an investigator with the state Department of Insurance. She was reviewing the books at Howell�s business when she disappeared two weeks ago. Her body was found last week in a wooded area near Fort Mill, S.C., about 20 miles south of Charlotte.
The warrant contained new details about the investigation which police say was connected to her duties as an auditor. Rohrbach was filling in for another insurance investigator when she left her home near Raleigh on May 12 for the assignment in Charlotte. Howell, 40, of Indian Trail, said the last time he saw Rohrbach was May 14 at 4 p.m. when she left his office, the warrant said.
The state Insurance Department asked Rohrbach�s husband on May 16 whether he had talked to her because she failed to call supervisors. When Tim Rohrbach said he hadn�t heard from his wife since a May 13 e-mail, they called Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to file a missing persons report.
When police discovered her car in a fast-food restaurant May 18, they called Howell and asked for permission to search his office. Howell agreed and accompanied two detectives to his business that night.
�During the search, two areas on the carpet and a computer cord tested presumptive positive for blood,� according to the warrant. At that point, Howell withdrew his consent and refused to allow police to search his car. The detectives left, but returned with a search warrant. They seized carpet, a desk, blood evidence, customer files, paneling and pornographic materials.
Howell was charged with murder a few hours after the search. Police say they later received information about where to find Rohrbach�s body. The cause of Rohrbach�s death is unclear. The Mecklenburg County medical examiner�s office said that she died from �homicide of undetermined means.� She was buried Sunday.
Howell was being held without bail in the Mecklenburg County jail pending a June 2 bond hearing. At an earlier hearing, he asked for a public defender. But that request was denied by a judge who said he had enough money to pay for his own defense.
It wasn�t clear Tuesday if Howell had retained a private attorney. In the meantime, the Insurance Department is evaluating its polices to see if changes are needed to protect investigators, spokeswoman Kristin Milam said. �This is all very new to us. This is the first time we�ve lost an investigator. We want to make sure we�re doing everything we can,� she said.