APPLE GROVE, W.Va. -- Police in Mason County are investigating after a man allegedly robbed a post office this morning.

A young male wearing a mask robbed the Apple Grove post office at 27853 Huntington Road at about 10 a.m., said Mason County emergency dispatchers.

Dispatchers did not know if the man had a weapon or if he made off with money or valuables.

JEFFREY, W.Va. -- A man faces murder charges after an early-morning stabbing in Boone County.

According to a Boone County dispatcher, a fight broke out between two men around 2:15 a.m. along Hewlett Creek Road in Jeffrey. One man, who dispatchers said was from North Carolina, allegedly stabbed another man during the argument.

The victim was taken to Boone Memorial Hospital, where he later died.

BECKLEY, W.Va. -- Four sheriffs in southern West Virginia are offering residents a way to get rid of unused prescription drugs.

Secure metal drop-off boxes are being placed at sites in Raleigh, Greenbrier, Monroe and Summers counties. Residents who can't travel to the drop-off locations can call their sheriff's department and a deputy will come to their homes and collect the drugs.

The drop-off program is an effort to combat prescription drug abuse.

Summers County Sheriff Edward Dolphin tells The Register-Herald that authorities need to reduce the supply and availability of prescription drugs.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Clay County commissioners are trying to figure out what to do about Sheriff Randy Holcomb's refusal to answer traffic calls.

Last week, Holcomb wrote a letter to local officials saying he no longer would respond to routine traffic calls, accidents or DUI calls. The sheriff referred calls for those services to the West Virginia State Police.

"We will be focusing our efforts towards the constitutional duties of the sheriff's office," Holcomb wrote.

Preliminary hearings will be held next week for a Calhoun County High School assistant football coach and former football star who were arrested on drug charges over the weekend.

State Police Sgt. O.S. Starsick, Calhoun County Sheriff Allen Parsons and a sheriff's deputy went to the Grantsville home of Paul R. Goodrich Jr., 48 on Feb. 18 to investigate a report of a disturbance, according to criminal complaints on file in Calhoun County Magistrate Court.

Once there, Goodrich told police his son, Paul R. Goodrich III, was tearing up the house, according to the complaints.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Authorities believe more than a dozen recent fires in Huntington were deliberately set.

State assistant fire marshal Reed Cook says the fires shouldn't alarm residents. But he tells The Herald-Dispatch that residents should watch for suspicious activity.

Up to 16 suspicious fires have occurred since late December across the city.

Reed says most of the fires occurred at abandoned houses. Some occupied residences, including an apartment building, also have been damaged.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kanawha County man was arrested over the weekend after allegedly threatening to harm his wife for calling police.

Deputies went to the home of Jackie Deusenberry, 54, near Blount at about 9 p.m. Friday to investigate a domestic call, according to Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department. When they got there, they reportedly could hear Deusenberry threatening his wife for calling police.

Deusenberry was arrested and charged with witness tampering, Crosier said. Deputies also allegedly found a .22-caliber rifle and a .223-caliber rifle, as well as a cache of ammunition.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Parts of Virginia and Court streets were closed briefly Tuesday morning after a car caught fire in a Charleston parking garage.

The fire was reported on the third floor of the United Bank parking garage at about 7:20 a.m., according to a Kanawha County Metro 911 dispatcher. Virginia and Court streets were shut down briefly as fire crews laid down hoses to battle the fire, which was out at about 7:30.

Virginia Street reopened a short time later, and Court Street had one lane open by a little after 8 a.m.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Clay County Sheriff Randy Holcomb says his department will no longer respond to road accidents, routine traffic violations or DUI calls.

In a letter sent last week to the Clay County Commission and other local officials, Holcomb refers police calls to the West Virginia State Police. "This is due to the lack of prosecution for these offenses in magistrate court, as well as the lack of equipment required to process DUIs in a timely manner," Holcomb wrote.

"This is also a matter of safety for the deputies that may have to process DUI in a remote location where there are no safeguards in place such as radio communication, holding cells, or backup officer readily available to provide assistance if needed," Holcomb continued.

ATHENS, Ohio -- Two Kanawha County men were arrested in Ohio over the weekend for allegedly trying to smuggle prescription drugs across state lines.

Anthony N. Strickland, 32, of Elkview and Michael A. Graham, 29, of Wills Creek, were pulled over by an Athens County, Ohio, K9 unit on U.S. 33 just west of Athens at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, according to Athens County Sheriff Patrick Kelly.

Deputies found 273 hydrocodone and OxyContin pills in the car, Kelly said. He said the two men allegedly admitted to taking tax refund money and other funds to Toledo, Ohio, on Saturday, where they allegedly bought the drugs to resell in West Virginia.

BECKLEY, W.Va. -- Authorities have released the identity of the human remains found in a remote area of Wyoming County.

Sheriff Randall Aliff tells The Register-Herald that the body belonged to 37-year-old Rachel Michelle Toler of Oceana. She was last seen Aug. 9 getting into a pickup truck near Oceana with a man. The remains were discovered in a secluded area of Matheny in October.

Aliff says that three others who disappeared about the same time as Toler remain missing: Chester Stewart, Brian David Cook and Sherry Myers.

 

CHAPMANVILLE, W.Va. -- Logan County officials found three people shot to death in a house on Huckleberry Road near Chapmanville, police and relatives of the deceased said.

The bodies of 51-year-old Paul David Jarrell, Eddie Bell and Michelle Bell were discovered around 9 a.m. Sunday morning, according to Jarrell's family members.

"I lost my mom, my older brother from a stroke, and my dad a week and a half ago and now my brother," Jarrell's sister, Brenda Jarrell said, standing in front of the house where her brother died. Jarrell and other family members were taking items from the house where the slayings occurred. They feared that thieves would break in and steal from the empty house, she said.

Police are calling Trevor Tomblin, 34, of Chapmanville, a person of interest in the homicide investigation. Tomblin wrecked around 5:25 a.m. Sunday morning at Big Creek while driving a 2000 Sonoma truck that was registered to one of the victims. Additional handguns and other evidence were found at the crash scene, according to police.

MOUNT MORRIS, Pa. -- Authorities in western Pennsylvania say a deputy sheriff from West Virginia was killed in an early morning crash during a vehicle pursuit.

State police in Waynesburg say a truck being sought in a hit-and-run in West Virginia was spotted shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday on Route 100. Granville, W.Va. police and Monongalia County sheriff's deputies gave chase. The driver entered Pennsylvania on Route 19 and headed south on Interstate 79. Police say at about 1:40 a.m. Saturday in Perry Township the truck hit the vehicle of 41-year-old Sgt. Michael Todd May, a Monongalia sheriff's deputy for 10 years. Police said May was pronounced dead at Ruby Memorial Hospital.

A 35-year-old Morgantown, W.Va. man was taken into custody and a homicide by vehicle case was opened. Police say the investigation continues.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A St. Albans man faces drug charges after West Virginia State Police allegedly discovered a methamphetamine laboratory in his home.

Troopers went to a house on Second Avenue North at about 4 p.m. Thursday to investigate a tip about a meth lab, according to State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous.

Troopers allegedly found $7,000 in cash and evidence that led to the arrest of Harold Parsons III. Parsons, 36, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and attempting to operate a clandestine drug lab.

Parsons was in the South Central Regional Jail on Friday in lieu of a $50,000 bail.

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. -- A three-judge panel will hear the Mason County Commission's petition to remove the sheriff in April.

The Point Pleasant Register reports that the state Supreme Court appointed the panel to consider the petition. The hearing is set for April 18 and April 19 in the Mason County Circuit Court courtroom.

The petition filed Monday cites Sheriff David Anthony's recent indictment on 42 counts, including wanton endangerment and embezzlement.

The 42-year-old sheriff denies the charges.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Nine workers at the IHOP restaurant in the Shops at Trace Fork along Corridor G were taken to the hospital Friday morning after a worker mixed chemicals and released a cloud of hazardous material into the air.

About 50 people were inside the restaurant at about 9:15 a.m. when an employee added the wrong chemical to a dishwasher used to clean restaurant hardware.

South Charleston Fire Department Capt. Virgil White said the two chemicals -- a degreaser and a chlorine-based cleaner -- are used in routine cleaning at the restaurant and were mixed together in a way that created "hazardous air quality."

Although the employees are familiar with the cleaning products used, White said, the employee "may have grabbed the wrong bottle to do his mixture with and it created this problem."

BECKLEY, W.Va. -- A Beckley man faces up to 30 years in prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $90,000 from First Citizens Bank.

Forty-six-year-old John R. Garris pleaded guilty to bank fraud Thursday in federal court in Beckley.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says Garris took the money through a loan scheme between January 2008 and February 2011. He was working as a financial services manager at the bank's branch in Lewisburg at the time.

Goodwin says Garris used the names of bank customers to create fictitious loans. He also used customers' existing loans to obtain advances.

WHEELING, W.Va. -- Wheeling Police Chief Robert Matheny has resigned for a new job as a training supervisor at the National White Collar Crime Center in Fairmont.

A former police lieutenant in Clarksburg, Matheny has been chief of the Northern Panhandle city since August 2009. His last day is March 7.

Matheny tells The Intelligencer that his wife and four sons still live in Bridgeport, near his new job.

The National White Collar Crime Center provides training, investigative support and research to various agencies dealing with economic and cybercrimes. The nonprofit organization is funded through grants and is headquartered in Richmond, Va.

DRY BRANCH, W.Va. -- Police said a Kanawha County man tried to flush prescription pills down the toilet during a search this week.

Tipsters alerted members of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Tactical Operations Patrol of narcotics trafficking occurring at a Cabin Creek residence, according to a news release.

Deputies searched the residence, which belongs to Douglas McArthur Conley, 66, of Dry Branch. Joyce Hope McDonald, 60, of Paint Creek, was also at the residence, the news release said.

They allegedly found a plastic bag inside the toilet containing tablets of Roxycodone, a powerful and addictive pain medication.

POCA, W.Va. -- When a Poca man came out of his bathroom on Wednesday, he was surprised to see someone standing in his home he didn't know.

Putnam County Sheriff Mark Smith said at around 11:50 a.m. someone broke a window and entered a 63-year-old man's home on Haning Drive near Poca River Road.

The intruder pushed the homeowner, who was home recovering from surgery, to the floor, asked him for the combination to his gun vault, and ripped his pants while digging through his pockets, according to Smith.

The man said he had a gun and threatened to shoot, but the homeowner never saw a weapon, Smith said.

MADISON, W.Va. -- A man convicted of sexually abusing four young girls in Boone County has been sentenced to at least 700 years in prison.

A Boone County jury convicted Howard Dotson on 89 counts in January.

Media outlets report that Boone County Circuit Court Judge William Thompson gave Dotson the maximum sentence on each count Wednesday. Thompson ordered the sentences to run consecutively.

Thompson called Dotson a sexual predator.

BRAMWELL, W.Va. -- Police are investigating a wreck that killed three people and injured two others in Mercer County.

Media outlets report that U.S. 52 north of Bramwell was closed for several hours after a pickup truck and a car collided Wednesday afternoon.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation. The victims haven't been identified.

 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police arrested the director of accounting for HealthNet Aeromedical Services Wednesday after they said she embezzled more than $50,000 during a six-month period.

Meredith Ann Collier, 41, of Scott Depot, turned herself in to Charleston Police Wednesday night following an investigation into HealthNet's finances by Charleston Detective James S. Duncan.

Collier allegedly wrote several unauthorized checks to herself, her husband and her friends exceeding $1,000 a check, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. Since being hired in January 2011, Collier embezzled more than $50,000, the criminal complaint said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Three people were arrested Tuesday after police allegedly found methamphetamine at a home in Nitro.

Officers of the Metro drug unit were at a home at 1106 11th St. in Nitro on Tuesday when they allegedly smelled an odor consistent with the manufacture of methamphetamine, according to Ptl. Ray Blake of the Nitro Police Department. Officers came back with a search warrant and allegedly found materials used for making meth and the finished drug, Blake said.

Douglas Sizemore, 50; Leonard Mitchell, 42 and Susan Mitchell, 48, were all arrested and charged with operating a clandestine drug lab, intent to deliver methamphetamine and intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a school, Blake said. He said the house was near Nitro High School.

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. -- A Bluefield woman is suing the city over her son's death at the city jail in 2010.

Wanda L. Yokosuk's lawsuit claims her son, 21-year-old Stephen Z. Yokosuk, didn't receive medical attention after he was found passed out in his car and taken to the jail.

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph says Wanda Yokosuk filed the federal lawsuit earlier this month.

According to the lawsuit, Stephen Yokosuk was charged with public intoxication but no alcohol was found in his system.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- A former vault teller has pleaded guilty to embezzling from BB&T.

The Dominion Post reported that 26-year-old Tiffany Joy White entered her plea to a misdemeanor embezzlement count Monday in Monongalia County Circuit Court. Under the plea agreement, the Morgantown woman will pay back $5,000 to the bank.

Circuit Judge Susan Tucker sentenced White to two years' supervised probation. White also must perform 150 hours of community service.

MATOAKA, W.Va.-- A Mercer County man stabbed and critically injured his brother during an argument Monday night, police said.

State Police Cpl. A.S. Cooper of the Jesse detachment responded to a stabbing complaint on Clarks Gap Road in Matoaka at about 7:15 p.m., according to a news release.

Cooper said Floyd M. Bennett Jr., 53, stabbed his brother, Basil E. Bennett, 48, multiple times before fleeing.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police were searching late Monday for two men who apparently attempted to rob a woman in South Charleston.

The attempted robbery was reported at 10:40 p.m. at 200 E Street.

South Charleston Police officers were searching for two black males, according to Metro 911 dispatchers. One of the men was carrying a silver handgun.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Mason County commissioners filed a petition Monday to remove Sheriff David Anthony from office amidst charges that he misused county funds and fired a weapon over the head of his 13-year-old son.

Anthony, 42, is serving as sheriff in an administrative role since he is unable to possess firearms pending the felony charges. Last month, he announced he would run for reelection "to show the people of Mason County that he is absolutely innocent."

Dave Moye, Anthony's lawyer, said alleged purchases on the county's cards made sometime in November were a misunderstanding. Moye said Anthony did not shoot the gun at his son and that Anthony's family shot weapons from the backyard of their Point Pleasant home often.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested a Charleston man Saturday after he allegedly traveled to Missouri with the intention of having sex with a minor.

FBI agents arrested Jack Edwin Gravenmier, 78, at a St. Louis motel, according to a news release.

Gravenmier sexually abused a 14-year-old Georgia boy last summer, according to an affidavit filed in St. Charles County, Mo.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State Police are investigating a Mingo County wreck involving a Wyoming County sheriff's deputy.

The accident happened Sunday night just before midnight on U.S. 52 just across the Mingo County line near the town of Justice, according to West Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous.

Baylous said Wyoming County Sheriff's Deputy Matt Shefflette was involved in a police chase when he apparently lost control of his cruiser and hit another vehicle. Both Shefflette and the driver of the other car were taken to local hospitals, but Baylous said the driver of the car did not appear to be seriously injured.

The deputy was more badly hurt, he said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Charleston Police will be celebrating Black History Month on Tuesday by honoring eight local residents who "dedicated their lives to serving the citizens."

A public ceremony will be at 10 a.m. on the third floor of Charleston City Hall to honor the following:

• Retired Cpl. David Brown and retired Cpl. Robbie Creel of the Charleston Police Department; Retired Capt. Matthew Jackson of the Charleston Fire Department; Tracy Dorsey-Chapman, victim/witness coordinator with the U.S. Department of Justice; and Donna Badger, Beverly Brownlow, Mary Gray and Teresa Johnson of the New Covenant Community Development Corporation.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- The owners of two Huntington convenience stores face food stamp fraud charges after investigators found that the businesses were redeeming unusually large amounts of benefits.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that according to search warrant affidavits, the ALLINONE Store redeemed up to seven times the food stamp benefits than a typical convenience store of its size. At the nearby Huntington Mart, the volume was even higher, according to grand jury indictments.

The indictments allege that store owners and employees defrauded the federal program of more than $420,000 between June 2010 and January 2012. The defendants exchanged benefits for cash or ineligible items such as cigarettes and alcohol.

Stores would redeem the full amount of government benefits, but give the food-stamp user as little as 50 cents on the dollar in cash or goods.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- The U.S. Secret Service is working with state and local police to find three people suspected of spending about $5,000 in counterfeit $100 bills at Monongalia County retail stores.

Granville Police Detective Ken Fike says the two men and a woman have passed the fake money in purchases at Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Target and other retailers, mostly at University Town Center. The transactions started Jan. 30.

U.S. Secret Service agent Ron Layton tells the Dominion Post that the counterfeit notes appear to be bleached $5 bills.

Authorities say that the three may be driving a white Chevrolet Suburban, perhaps with Maryland plates.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- All of the bayonets, guns and other items stolen during a break-in are back at the Veterans Museum of the Mid-Ohio Valley.

The Parkersburg Police Department says a boy playing in an abandoned house last week found a duffel bag containing several knives and a crowbar. Three stolen bayonets and five knives were recovered.

Uniforms, guns and other items stolen during the December break-in were recovered earlier.

Museum director Gary Farris tells the Parkersburg News and Sentinel that the items will be cleaned and put back on display in the next few weeks.

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- Fayette County sheriff's deputies arrested a man Thursday in connection to alleged sexual abuse of a child.

Deputies, assisted by State Police Trooper C.L. Adkins, arrested Harold Dean Stump Jr., 52, of Fayetteville.

Stump was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian. He was taken to Southern Regional Jail before posting a $50,000 bond Friday morning, according to a news release.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Lawyers for sniper suspect Shawn Lester say newspaper articles have cast him in such a bad light that it is impossible for Lester to get a fair trial in Kanawha County.

Recent news coverage and the original media uproar over the 2003 sniper-style shootings justify Lester's trial being moved to another county, defense attorney George Castelle told Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom on Thursday.

During a hearing to determine whether the trial should be moved, Castelle said Lester's name has been mentioned in newspaper articles 400 times since he was arrested April 1 in connection with the shootings that left three people dead in Kanawha County.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. --  Members of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department drug unit seized about $20,000 worth of narcotics and cash at a home in St. Albans on Wednesday.

Jesse Edward Post, 35, of St. Albans was arrested after deputies received a tip and searched his home on Middle Drive, located in the Green Valley Drive area.

Sgt. Ron Mathis said deputies recovered prescription pills, hallucinogenic mushrooms, heroin and a little more than $6,000 cash.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A local television news anchor was arrested recently after allegedly driving on a revoked license from a previous driving under the influence conviction.

Kenova Police Officer A.M. Lewis pulled over David Berkley Benton, 42, of Huntington, on Jan. 28 along W.Va. 75 for driving with a registration expired in April, according to a criminal complaint filed in Wayne County Magistrate Court.

According to the criminal complaint, Benton told Lewis he did not have his registration card or insurance card, but did have a license.

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. -- Police have charged a Buckhannon-Upshur High School senior with trying to hire a fellow student for $75 to beat up a boy.

The Record Delta says 18-year-Jeffrey Saltis of Buckhannon was charged Tuesday with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after soliciting a juvenile to commit battery.

Saltis remains free on $2,500 bond.

His attorney, Jerald Jones, says it was just a joke that was blown out of proportion. Jones says the situation centered on a girl Saltis is dating and her previous relationship with the intended victim.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Authorities believe an Eastern Panhandle man shot his 9-year-old son to death and set their home on fire before killing himself last month in Glengary.

State Police Sgt. J.D. Burkhart tells media outlets there's no reason to think anyone else was involved in the deaths of 56-year-old David Cole Hutzler and 9-year-old James "Mack'' Hutzler.

Both bodies were found in a rear bedroom, and autopsies later located gunshot wounds.

Burkhart says David Hutzler had seemed unstable to friends and families over the past few months. He'd recently told them that he and his son were going on a vacation and not coming back.

LOGAN, W.Va. -- Authorities are investigating a series of suspicious fires that have damaged several buildings in Logan.

Media outlets report that two fires in the last week have been ruled as arsons. One occurred at the Knowles Animal Hospital and another occurred at a vacant building.

Logan Fire Chief Scott Beckett says fires at two commercial structures within seven days is more than coincidence.

Beckett says eight or nine fires have occurred in the last six weeks.

RAINELLE, W.Va. -- Police are investigating the deaths of three men whose bodies were found in their Greenbrier County home.

The Greenbrier County Sheriff's Department identified the victims as 80-year-old Lacy Osborne and his sons, Michael Osborne and Davy Osborne, both in their 40s.

The sheriff's department tells media outlets that the bodies were discovered Tuesday in the men's home near Rainelle. Police believe the men had been dead for 24 to 36 hours.

The cause of death hasn't been determined.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking for the people responsible for leaking the home addresses, home phone numbers and cellphone numbers of every police chief in West Virginia, according to the president of a statewide police chiefs organization. 

William Roper, president of the West Virginia Chiefs of Police Association, said his organization's website was compromised Monday by a group associated with Anonymous, an international hacker group with a stated mission of protecting free speech and fighting anti-piracy laws.

The subgroup, which calls itself "CabinCr3w," posted the personal information of more than 156 police officers, including current and retired police chiefs, to a public website.

The information was announced on Twitter, directing users to a website with a banner message warning that "police departments across the United States [have] become more militrarized [sic] and weaponized at our expense."

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- A former special education teacher at a Morgantown elementary school has been charged with the sexual abuse of a student in 2009.

The Dominion Post says 54-year-old Robert Morrell of Rowlesburg is free on $50,000 bond. State Police charged him with first-degree sexual abuse Monday.

Police say he abused a Mountainview Elementary student at least twice in 2009.

Trooper K.H. Totten began investigating the complaints last spring.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police said an investigation into a Sunday morning shooting on Charleston's West Side was slowed because witnesses only knew the suspect's street name.

The shooting victim identified the suspect from a photo lineup as Douglas Wesley Jr., 23. Wesley is also known as "Dougie" and "Dougie Fresh," police said.

On Tuesday, police charged Wesley with attempted murder and two counts of wanton endangerment with a weapon.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A fire investigation involving the deaths of a Berkeley County man and his son is now a homicide inquiry.

West Virginia State Police Trooper J.D. Brand told The Journal newspaper that both victims had gunshot wounds. Brand said additional details will be released after a final report from the state Medical Examiner's Office is received.

Assistant State Fire Marshal Patrick Barker said the fire was intentionally set.

The bodies of 56-year-old David Cole Hutzler and his 9-year-old son, James, were found after the fire on Jan. 6 in the rear bedroom of their mobile home near Glengary.

WESTON, W.Va. -- The extended family of a 3-year-old Lewis County girl who vanished in late September is renewing its search efforts, even though authorities have released no new information in the case.

Media outlets report that search groups are in the Weston area this week to try to locate Aliayah Lunsford.

Authorities have classified her Sept. 24 disappearance as a crime but have made no arrests, named no suspects and declined to say what they think happened to the child.

Last month, FBI Special Agent William Crowley said investigators would offer updates if they were beneficial to the case. But right now, they're not. He said the investigation is in a different stage and different tactics are required.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- Fire officials believe a fire that killed two young Parkersburg girls began in a dining room on the first floor of the family's duplex.

Fire Chief Eric Taylor tells the Parkersburg News and Sentinel that investigators don't know whether a gas-fired wall heater in the dining room was the fire's source.

The fire occurred Saturday.

The bodies of the girls, ages 2 and 4, were sent to the state medical examiner's office in Charleston. A spokesman for the office says they haven't been positively identified.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A man is in jail following a shooting early Sunday on Charleston's West Side.

Larry Crews, 40, of St. Albans was outside the Kickback Lounge in the 900 block of Central Avenue at about 2 a.m. when he was shot, according to Detective Jarl Taylor of the Charleston Police Department.

Security cameras caught at least part of the shooting, and Taylor said witnesses apparently saw Crews' cousin, Cameron Crews, 34, ditching a gun after the shooting.

Taylor said Cameron Crews was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He said Cameron Crews has been convicted of drug charges.