WELCH – A McDowell County man is facing a charge of first-degree murder Sunday after deputies investigated a missing person report and found his wife’s body buried in a basement.

On Friday, at approximately 8:30 p.m., deputies with the McDowell County Sheriff’s Department received a 911 call in the English/Bartley area about a missing person, according to Sheriff Martin B. West. Deputies learned from family members that a Rebecca Wood had not been seen for the past couple of days and that her husband, Woody Alfred Wood Jr., 35, may be a person of interest.

Deputies later learned from further investigation and from receiving a search warrant for the residence that Woody Wood had killed his wife Rebecca Wood and buried her in his basement, West said.

Due to the nature of this crime the sheriff’s department requested assistance from the West Virginia State Police Mobile Forensics Team and members of the West Detachment of the State Police. Wood was located by deputies the morning of April 2.

Wood was arrested and charged with first- degree murder and placed in the McDowell County Holding unit awaiting arrangement, West said.