More details have emerged today on events leading to the discovery in Effingham County of the partial remains of Charles Ray, reported missing on New Year’s Eve from Chatham County.
Effingham County Sheriff’s office spokesman David Ehsanipoor said authorities believe that the slaying of Charles Ray, 35, occurred at the Whitehall Avenue home, where Ray’s alleged killer held his wife hostage in an armed standoff with police on Friday.
Most of Ray’s remains were found in a storage unit in Jasper County, S.C. Authorities there confirmed through autopsy those remains belonged to Charles Ray, according to Ehsanipoor.
Ehsanipoor also provided new details today on Friday’s hostage situation. Ehsanipoor said that on Friday Savannah-Chatham police requested an Effingham County deputy to go with them to the home of Chad Moretz, 34, of Rincon, to question him as part of the investigation into Ray’s whereabouts.
“When they knocked on the door, Moretz's brother-in-law, Kevin Lambert, opened the door to officers,” Ehsanipoor said. “He then whispered, ‘He’s here but he will not come out alive’, referring to Chad Moretz.”
Lambert informed officers that Moretz had a weapon and that Lambert’s sister, Kimberly Moretz, was inside. Kimberly Moretz is also the wife of Chad Moretz.
“The officers then grabbed Kevin Lambert away from the home and at that point there was a hostage situation,” Ehsanipoor said.
After about five hours of on and off talks by hostage negotiators with Moretz, the suspect was shot dead by a SWAT team member when he came outside of the house brandishing an assault rifle. Moretz had also threatened to kill deputies during the negotiations.
Kimberly Moretz was able to leave the home before her husband was shot. She suffered minor injuries and was treated at an area hospital.
Ehsanipoor said it is believed that Chad Moretz killed Charles Ray, but that Kimberly Moretz and Kevin Lambert helped conceal the death.
Kimberly Moretz and Kevin Lambert were both arrested on charges of concealing a death are being held without bond in the Effingham County jail.
Charles Ray – known as Charlie – attended Benedictine Military High School in Savannah.
Ray was known to frequent the Effingham County area, Ehsanipoor said.
Chad Moretz was well known to authorities, Ehsanipoor said. He was arrested in December in Effingham County for terroristic threats.
A check of Florida records show a history of family violence in Chad Moretz’s past.
Jeffrey Moretz, the father of Chad Moretz, stands accused of a 2009 Collier County, Fla., murder.
According to a Collier County police report, Jeffrey Moretz killed his wife, Chad Moretz’s mother, Christine Moretz.
The shooting, with .380-caliber Ruger handgun, occurred in a Naples, Fla., Hospital.
In a statement to police before the death of his mother, Chad Moretz said his father was suicidal and had tried to kill him. The statement was made on charges of aggravated assault with a handgun against Jeffrey Moretz at the Moretz' Florida home.
An autopsy on the remains found in Rincon will conducted Monday at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab in Savannah.
For more updates on this and other Effingham County stories, go to savannahnow.com/effinghamnow and follow EffinghamNow editor DeAnn Komanecky on Twitter at @deannsk.