In the summer of 2026, concern began to mount for 79-year-old Claude Wayne "Doc" Holsclaw, a longtime resident of Brookford, North Carolina. On the evening of July 16, officers from the Brookford Police Department responded to his home to conduct a welfare check. Initially, investigators received information that suggested Holsclaw might have voluntarily traveled to the mountains with a friend. However, this theory was short-lived as new information emerged the following day, raising suspicions about the circumstances of his disappearance. This shift in the investigation prompted Brookford Police Chief Will Armstrong to request assistance from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
The investigation intensified, leading authorities to execute a search warrant at a property on 4th Street Place Southwest in Hickory. On July 20, the search yielded a grim discovery: human remains. An autopsy later confirmed the remains belonged to Holsclaw and determined that he had likely died from a gunshot wound to the head approximately a month before he was reported missing. The investigation pointed to 34-year-old Joshua Ray Begley, who lived in a separate home on the same property as Holsclaw. Begley was taken into custody on July 26 and charged with murder, concealment of death, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
As the investigation continued, a second suspect was identified. On July 31, 33-year-old Adam Kyle Ramsey of Brookford was arrested at his workplace in Hickory. Ramsey was charged with felony accessory after the fact to murder and felony concealment of death. In court, Begley made the claim that Holsclaw was elderly and in pain, and had wanted to die but did not have the courage to end his own life, implying he had assisted him. Prosecutors, however, have indicated that this account does not hold up. Both Begley and Ramsey are being held without bond in the Catawba County Detention Facility. The case against the two men is now moving through the judicial process, with court appearances scheduled to determine the resolution of the charges brought against them in the death of Doc Holsclaw.
