(AP) The husband of a slain Fort Bragg soldier whose remains were found in a brush fire near Camp Lejeune has been charged with first-degree arson.

John Wimunc is a 23-year-old Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune. His wife is Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, a nurse from Iowa who has been missing since a fire burned through her apartment in Fayetteville.

In an e-mail statement provided to WRAL-TV in Raleigh, Jesse James, the father of Holley Wimunc, said his family had been told by authorities that Wimunc is dead.

Wimunc has been missing since a fire was discovered Thursday at her apartment in Fayetteville.

"It is with profound sadness that our family just received the news from authorities that our beloved daughter Holley is dead," James, of Dubuque, Iowa, said in the statement. "Since last Thursday's shocking news about Holley's burned apartment and her missing person status, our family through the country has nonetheless been holding on to a thin thread of hope that she would be found alive.

"Today, that thread of hope broke as her body was discovered."

District Attorney Dewey Hudson had said Sunday that the remains might have been Wimunc.

"Because of the evidence discovered at the scene, I have strong suspicions that the body found belongs to Holley Wimunc," he said.

The body appeared to have been burned prior to the brush fire, he said.

Division of Forest Resources personnel found the remains when they responded to a fire in the Sneads Ferry area near the southern border of Camp Lejeune late Sunday afternoon.

Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said the fire appeared to have been set in an effort to cover up the crime.

Also charged with arson is another Marine, 22-year-old Kyle Ryan Alden. Both are being held in the Cumberland County jail and are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday morning.
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