Michael James Mitchke, a 57-year-old man from Salisbury, North Carolina, was found dead on August 21, 2022. His body was discovered inside a burned camper at 3740 St. Peters Church Road. The incident occurred around 9:45 p.m. when a passerby noticed the camper engulfed in flames and called 911. Fire personnel arrived on the scene and extinguished the flames, only to find Mitchke's body inside. An investigation determined that Mitchke had died before the fire, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Further investigation revealed that Mitchke had been working on a house on the property and had been staying in the camper while the work was ongoing. The Rowan County Sheriff's Office and Mitchke's family have offered a combined reward of $20,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case. Detectives have been working on the investigation but have encountered few leads.
In January 2023, Rowan County Sheriff Travis Allen provided an update on the case, revealing that Mitchke's death was due to a gunshot wound. The sheriff's office also indicated that there might be a connection between Mitchke's homicide and another murder that occurred on July 20, 2022. In that case, David Kenneth Land was found murdered at his home on Poole Road. Both victims died from gunshot wounds, and investigators have recovered physical evidence linking the two cases.
Despite the destruction caused by the fire, investigators were able to recover crucial evidence from Mitchke's camper. The sheriff's office has conducted over 100 interviews in connection with the two cases, but no arrests have been made. The rural nature of the area where the crimes were committed has complicated the investigation, as there are few neighbors and limited cellphone signal coverage.
The Rowan County Sheriff's Office continues to pursue leads and has urged anyone with information about either murder case to come forward. The hope is that the monetary reward will incentivize individuals with knowledge of the crimes to provide valuable information that could lead to an arrest and conviction.
