Police say a missing-person report in Richwood led investigators to a burned grave site near Summit Lake.

RICHWOOD, W.Va. — A West Virginia woman who reported her 26-year-old daughter missing has been charged with murder after investigators found the daughter’s remains in a shallow grave near Summit Lake, state police said.

Staci Leann Wind, 50, of Richwood, is accused of killing her daughter, Ayla Wind, in a case that began as a missing-person report and grew into a homicide investigation across Nicholas and Greenbrier counties. Police said Staci Wind reported Ayla missing on May 18, saying she had not seen her since May 15. Four days later, troopers were sent to the Summit Lake area after human remains were reported. By May 23, Staci Wind was under arrest.

The case moved quickly because police said the first public account of Ayla Wind’s disappearance did not stand alone for long. Richwood police and state troopers reviewed the report, searched for clues about where Ayla had gone and examined phone records tied to her last known contacts. Investigators said records showed Ayla had texted with her mother and said she was getting snacks at a gas station. Relatives also said Ayla had been talking about going to a lake with friends. Richwood Chief Deputy Shane Boggs later said Staci Wind appeared to act like a concerned mother when she first came to police, but he said her manner did not strike him as frantic. Boggs said she told officers her daughter might have left with someone she met online, in a vehicle she could not describe, with a destination she could not clearly name.

The first major break came near Summit Lake, a wooded recreation area in Greenbrier County about a county away from Richwood. Police said a person found what appeared to be a burn pit. Inside it, investigators said, were human bones, a yellow cellphone and other debris. Troopers and the West Virginia State Police Crime Scene Unit searched nearby and found a shallow grave. The body was later identified as Ayla Wind. Police said the remains had been burned, and investigators found a burned tarp and what appeared to be a bloodied bed sheet in the grave. Two ferns had been placed on top of the burial site. The complaint says police also found charcoal and wood chips around the burn area, details that later became important when investigators examined Staci Wind’s account of where she had gone.

After the discovery near the lake, police obtained a search warrant for the Riverside Drive home where Staci and Ayla Wind had lived. Troopers said presumptive chemical tests showed blood stains in several parts of the house. Investigators reported finding blood in Ayla’s room, including bloody handprints on a wall, and said they found a mattress that had been cut up and had blood on it. Police said Staci Wind had told investigators she had given away Ayla’s mattress, but officers said the search of the home produced evidence that did not match that statement. Authorities also searched Staci Wind’s pickup truck. The complaint says they found two plant baskets in the truck bed that matched the size and shape of the ferns found at the grave site. Police also said they found a booster seat manual in the truck that matched a booster seat connected to the burial area.

Investigators also pointed to Staci Wind’s own travel account. Police said she told them she bought charcoal, wood chips and lighter fluid before going to Summit Lake on May 16, one day after Ayla was last reported seen. Staci Wind told investigators she camped in her truck at the lake, according to the complaint. Police have not released a full timeline of what they believe happened between May 15 and May 22, and the cause of Ayla Wind’s death remained under investigation in early public reports. Authorities also have not publicly stated a motive. Sgt. Douglas Gordon of the West Virginia State Police said investigators were continuing to look at why Ayla was killed. The records released so far focus mainly on the missing-person report, the remains, the burn site, the house and items police say tied the home and truck to the grave.

The death also cut across family plans that had been underway before Ayla Wind vanished. Relatives and a fundraising page said Ayla was preparing to move back to Utah, where family members expected her to return. The family said she was in West Virginia with her mother but was planning to head west. The fundraiser said money would help bring Ayla’s ashes to Utah, pay for travel between West Virginia and Utah and support a memorial service. It also noted that a young child and a single parent were left behind. Family members described Ayla as someone who stayed in regular contact with loved ones. One relative said Ayla would not go a full day without checking on her child or partner, a detail that helped sharpen concern when she could not be reached after May 15.

Staci Wind was arrested May 23 at a residence on Riverside Drive in Richwood and taken to Central Regional Jail. Jail records listed her as a pretrial felon inmate, and early reports said she was being held without bond. She was charged with first-degree murder, and later court reporting said the case also included a second-degree murder count. Staci Wind entered a not guilty plea, according to court records reported after her arrest. The case then moved from magistrate court toward Nicholas County Circuit Court after she waived a preliminary hearing. That waiver meant prosecutors did not have to present probable-cause testimony at that stage. The case is expected to go before a grand jury, which can decide whether to return an indictment and send the prosecution toward trial.

Boggs, the Richwood police official, said the missing-person report did not sound like a simple disappearance once officers began checking it. He said Staci Wind first described an unknown person, an unknown vehicle and a possible trip to a lake. Then came the discovery near Summit Lake. “Somebody up at Summit Lake found a burn pit,” Boggs said, describing how officers later found a phone, bones and debris before locating the body nearby. The scene gave investigators a second center of the case, away from the home where police later said they found blood evidence. The distance between the Richwood house and the Greenbrier County burial site became part of the investigation, along with the supplies police said Staci Wind admitted buying before she went to the area.

The case remains pending in Nicholas County, with Staci Wind held as court proceedings continue. Police have not publicly released a final cause of death or a stated motive, and investigators have said the homicide investigation is ongoing.

Author note: Last updated June 21, 2026.