Texas man arrested for 2007 cold case murder of man who vanished after going to buy a car

Charles Kessinger, 38, of San Antonio, Texas, was charged with the 2007 robbery and first-degree

A Texas man has been arrested in connection to a cold case murder in 2007.

Charles Kessinger, 38, was charged with robbery and first-degree in the killing of 53-year-old James Johansen, who was last seen in Fairlea, West Virginia on 13 June 2007.

At the time he went missing, Johansen had been in the process of selling his vehicle and purchasing a new car. He had planned to travel to Ohio to buy a new car but never made it to the state and was reported missing by family and friends, West Virginia authorities said at the time.

No developments happened in the investigation until September 2021, when his body was found in the Muddy Creek Mountain area in Greenbrier County, WHSV reported.

The Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office and the West Virginia State Police (WVSP) determined that the remains belonged to Johansen later last year.

Charles Kessinger, 38, has since been extradited to West Virginia and is now being held at the Southern Regional Jail (WVSP)

The WVSP Lewisburg Detachment and WVSP Bureau of Criminal Investigations worked together on an investigative report that included tips and leads obtained by the agencies throughout the years.

The report was presented to a grand jury that returned the indictments against Mr Kessinger. He was arrested by Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety at his home in San Antonio, Texas.

Kessinger has since been extradited to West Virginia and is now being held at the Southern Regional Jail. He was denied bail.

“The robbery and the allegation of murder were a result of a singular transaction of events between these two individuals,” Greenbrier County Prosecutor Pat Via told Metro News. “I would say that he was part of a substantial number of people that were subjected to and agreed to provide interviews and information,”

Mr Via argued that Mr Kessinger, who lived in West Virginia at the time of the killing, knew the victim and allegedly killed him before stealing his 1995 Dodge Neon.

Mr Kessinger eventually moved to Texas, Mr Via said. The suspect is scheduled back in court on 20 December.