BELLE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office has released an update regarding the decomposing body found in a home in Belle. They have also identified and arrested the man found hiding in the closet on separate charges.
Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office Detectives have identified the male located inside the home on 5th Street in Belle today as Michael Robert Johnson, 41 years old of Belle.
Mr. Johnson was found hiding inside a closet when deputies executed a search warrant on the home, after discovering a deceased decomposing body inside. The body was discovered after Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office Legal Process Division went to the home with Belle Police today to serve an eviction notice on Peggy Johnson.
Michael Johnson was detained by deputies and taken to be interviewed where he admitted to living with his mother, Peggy Johnson, for the last two to three years at the Belle address.
Michael told deputies that Peggy had died in December 2022 at their residence.
Peggy was a recipient of social security benefits and receives approximately one thousand dollars a month.
Michael told deputies that he continued receiving and using those benefits after her death.
Michael stated that he has used approximately five to six thousand dollars since her death.
Michael was not on his mother’s accounts and did not have the authorization to spend her social security benefits after knowing she was deceased.
Deputies have since arrested and charged Michael Johnson with obtaining money, property, and services by false pretenses. Michael was arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court this evening and is currently being held in South Central Regional Jail on a $2,500.00 or 10% cash bond. Mr. Michael Johnson is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Detectives were not able to identify the decomposed body at this time due to the severity of the decomposition. It is believed the person has been deceased for quite a long time.
The body of the deceased was transported to the West Virginia State Medical Examiner’s Office where an autopsy is expected to be performed tomorrow. Michael Johnson is still considered a person of interest in this death investigation.