By Ely Portillo
elyportillo@charlotteobserver.com

Investigators seized an unidentified white powder and straws when they searched the home of a police chief's daughter, and found scales at the home of the man arrested in connection with her death, according to search warrants filed Tuesday that reveal more details about the case.

Valerie Hamilton, 23, was seen leaving Thomas Street Tavern early Wednesday, Sept. 15, with a man police later said was Michael Harvey. Her father, Concord police Chief Merl Hamilton, reported her missing after she failed to show up for work or contact him.

In the days following Hamilton's disappearance, police searched her Arboretum-area apartment, Harvey's residence near the Belmont neighborhood, and the Monroe Road storage unit where Hamilton's body was found.

In the warrants, police say one of Harvey's roommates told them that Harvey was a known drug user who sold heroin and cocaine. The warrants also say a woman who lived in Harvey's house overdosed on heroin and was hospitalized the same night Hamilton was seen there.

According to the warrants, police searched Hamilton's apartment on Sept. 17. They seized various items, including a computer, a stun gun, straws and an unidentified white powder.

When detectives examined Hamilton's cell phone records, they found the last calls made to her phone, at 2:38 and 2:39 a.m. Sept. 15, came from Harvey, a registered sex offender and probationer awaiting trial on drug charges.

Investigators went to his home on East 15th Street, but Harvey wasn't there. Detectives interviewed his roommates, who said a girl matching Hamilton's description - whom Harvey called "Valerie" - had been at the house the night she disappeared.

One of the roommates told investigators he helped Harvey put Hamilton in Harvey's truck after seeing her lying on his bed, glassy-eyed. The roommate said he told Hamilton she needed to go to the hospital.

Another of his roommates told investigators she didn't see Harvey or Hamilton that night because the roommate had overdosed on heroin at about 1 a.m. and was taken to the hospital.

Roommates also told investigators that Harvey's behavior had been unusual since Hamilton's disappearance. Harvey had been cleaning, which he never did, and hadn't been sleeping at the house, they said.

Detectives seized items including a holster, gun magazines, speed loaders, spoons, a scale and a pair of jeans at Harvey's home.

One of the roommates told police that Harvey had a storage unit on Monroe Road. When detectives searched the unit Saturday, Sept. 18, they found Hamilton's body.

A preliminary autopsy found no signs on Hamilton's body of a violent or traumatic death. Authorities are awaiting results of a toxicology test on her.

Harvey was arrested Sept. 20 on a murder warrant in Niagara Falls. He is in New York, awaiting extradition, and police officials have said the charges against him could change when he's returned to Charlotte. Court records show Harvey was a longtime drug abuser who was awaiting charges of possessing fake heroin with the intent to sell.
 

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