Last month, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office offered a $30,000 reward for information in a murder case gone cold.
On Wednesday, the office announced a breakthrough and the arrest of Stacey Welch, 38, in the death of Simon Powell, 63.
Powell was last seen driving his white Ford truck on June 1, 2016. It was later found burned. However, a body was not recovered from the wreckage, according to a June 9 article in The Augusta Press.
According to family members, Powell owned a lumber business and would occasionally hire itinerant workers, but there is no evidence that Powell had any trouble with any of his workers or had any other known enemies, the article said.
Sheriff Alfonzo Williams said the case is still under investigation.
“There are a couple of persons we need to speak with, and we will be working hard tomorrow to verify more information in this case,” he said. “There are additional leads that we need to run down. There may be additional arrests.”
