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NEWS
McCalla case timeline
The Rev. Mark McCalla was killed June 19 and found at the Beech Fork Wildlife Management Area. Daniel Smith and Stephen Wilson face charges in his death. Here is a timeline of the events involving Smith, Wilson and McCalla's death:
November 2007: Spc. Daniel Smith returns from an Iraq deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Early May 2008: The U.S. Army declares Smith and Pfc. Stephen Wilson are absent without leave from Fort Drum in New York.
June 19: A state forestry worker finds the body of the Rev. Mark McCalla at a rifle range in the Beech Fork Wildlife Management Area. The minister died from a single gunshot wound to the head. McCalla preached at Highlawn Presbyterian Church.
June 20: A witness tells State Police he spotted a vehicle with a New York license plate enter the shooting range near the time of McCalla's death. The vehicle's passenger had a mohawk hairstyle.
June 23: Divers search for missing guns in a lake near the crime scene, while mourners attend McCalla's funeral.
June 25: Wayne County Sheriff David Pennington tells The Herald-Dispatch about a witness who spotted a New York vehicle and passenger with a mohawk leaving the area near the shooting.
June 26: Tips from the public lead officers to execute a search warrant at 32 Idle Acres. They confiscated a car with New York tags, 12 firearms and photographs of the suspects in possession of weapons. The raid also led to police interviewing an Iraq War veteran living at the residence. He tells police that Smith and Wilson told him four days earlier they had shot and killed McCalla. The local veteran had served with Smith and Wilson in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum in New York. They had been staying at the Idle Acres residence.
June 27: First-degree murder warrants are filed against Wilson and Smith. Pennington says they are absent without leave from Fort Drum, and a detective says robbery motivated the death. An anonymous tip leads to their capture at a bus station in Columbus, Ohio. Local authorities believe the duo boarded a bus in Charleston in hopes of finding refuge with a friend in Colorado Springs, Colo.
June 30: The U.S. Army releases information about the suspects. Both were deserters from Fort Drum's 10th Mountain Division. They served as infantrymen and belonged to the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
July 1: The Columbus Police Department charges Smith and Wilson with being fugitives from justice.
July 2: Smith and Wilson waive extradition in Columbus, Ohio. Federal, state and local authorities search for McCalla's wallet in a 4.5-mile stretch of land near the crime scene. It's spurred by new information those involved stole the wallet, took cash and tossed it from a vehicle as they fled the scene.
