Back Creek body identified

September 08, 2006|By MATTHEW UMSTEAD

A decomposed body found Aug. 20 along Back Creek in western Berkeley County, W.Va., was identified as Debra Ann Fielder, a 49-year-old Berkeley County resident last seen alive nine days earlier in Bunker Hill, West Virginia State Police announced Friday.

The body was found by two people fishing in the creek near the intersection of Buck Hill Road and Tuscarora Pike.

Authorities determined she was stabbed multiple times.

Fielder's ex-husband, attorney Stephen R. Fielder of Bunker Hill, said Friday he was questioned by police about her death.

"I've been contacted by the police and it's better that I don't say anything," said Fielder at his home and office at 9280 Winchester Ave.

"Put me down for an official no comment," he said.

Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely declined to say whether police had questioned Fielder or whether he was a suspect.

She indicated no arrest warrants had been issued.

Games-Neely said Debra Ann Fielder was not reported missing.

"The investigation is going fast and furious," she said.

County and court records indicate the Fielders have been divorced since December 2002 after seven years of marriage.

State Police said she was a Bunker Hill resident in a news release Friday.

The Fielders' were married in Martinsburg on September 9, 1995, according to county records. The entry of their marriage license in the County Clerk's office also indicates both were from Washington, D.C., and they applied for the license while living at 1107 Winchester Ave., Martinsburg.

Games-Neely said Friday she did not believe Debra Fielder had any immediate family in the area and that her parents might be deceased.

State Police revealed Friday they learned the identity of the body with the help of local law enforcement agencies and the public after a computer-generated rendering was released Sept. 1.

Games-Neely said investigators were running out of leads at that point, and outstanding reports of missing females were eliminated.

Police are still urging anyone with information who may have seen Debra Fielder between Aug. 11 and Aug. 20 to contact the West Virginia State Police at 304- 267-0001 or 304-267-0025.

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