NEW CASTLE Discovery of body confirms family's fears

Family members said Wendy Miller was well-liked.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Family members knew something was wrong when Wendy Miller didn't show up for her job at the AT & amp;T National Relay Center in New Castle last week.
"I got a call saying she hadn't been to work in two days. That's not Wendy. She loved her job," said Darlene Pounds, Miller's mother.
Family members feared the worst when they reported her missing to police Dec. 17.
Friends searching for 28-year-old Miller found her body Sunday afternoon on the banks of the Neshannock Creek. Her death has been ruled a homicide, caused by a gunshot wound to the head, a forensic pathologist said Monday. Dr. Karl Williams performed an autopsy on the New Castle woman Monday at Ellwood City Hospital. He said she appeared to have been shot in the back of the head with a shotgun slug and had other marks on her body.
Several people riding all-terrain vehicles Sunday afternoon found Miller's body partially concealed by leaves in a wooded area near the Neshannock Creek.
Pounds said she last saw her daughter Dec. 14 when Miller spent the night at her house. Her daughter had needed a ride to work while her vehicle was getting inspected, Pounds said.
Other family members told police that Miller was last seen driving her vehicle Dec. 15 on the city's west side.
Pounds said her daughter was well-liked by co-workers and other friends and spent most of her time working or with her children.
"She got along with everybody. She loved her job, and her kids were No. 1," Pounds said.
Missing kids recovered: Three of Miller's four children also were missing but were found unharmed in Butler, Pa., with Miller's boyfriend, Dennis Reed, also known as Chuck, who was driving Miller's vehicle.
Pounds said she had concerns about her daughter's relationship with Reed, 30, who now faces a charge of kidnapping in the disappearance of Miller's three youngest children. He was arraigned Sunday night in Lawrence County. The children, ages 5, 6 and 8, were returned to family members after Reed's arrest Saturday.
Police in Butler said they found cocaine and a loaded semiautomatic firearm on Reed when he was stopped on Fifth Avenue. He faces charges of carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver. He is in Butler County Jail after failing to post $50,000 bail.
Not charged in death: Reed has not been charged with Miller's death.
Pounds said Reed is not the father of her three youngest grandchildren, but he is the father of Miller's oldest child, 12. That child was not with Miller and his three younger siblings when they turned up missing last week, she said.
cioffi@vindy.com