The husband of a slain state insurance investigator said he felt sure his wife was dead from the moment he learned she was missing -- and that he’s been going through a “living hell” ever since.

Sallie Rohrbach’s body was found May 20 in a wooded area in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Authorities charged the owner of an insurance agency she was sent to audit with killing her. “You can never prepare yourself for something like this,” said Tim Rohrbach. “I wasn’t ready for it. It’s torturous. I can’t describe it other than being a living hell.”

Prosecutors have charged the owner of Dilworth Insurance Agency in Charlotte, Michael Howell, 40, with first-degree murder. The agency was never a member of PIA. Rohrbach, a 44-year-old examiner with the state Insurance Department, was reviewing the books at Howell’s business when she disappeared. Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Insurance, said she couldn’t discuss the complaint that prompted the audit of Howell’s business. But two former customers told reporters they paid Howell, who then failed to forward the money to their insurance providers.

Tim and Sallie Rohrbach met while they were students at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. Married for 24 years, they had no children, but Rohrbach said his wife took in three stray dogs and four cats. “I’m not much of a people person, but she was,”' he said. “She was a joy to be around.”

Spouse: Slain Insurance Examiner Was ‘A Joy’ (Insurance Journal 5/23/08)

June 3, 2008