CHARLOTTE - A Union County man was arrested overnight and charged with killing a missing state insurance investigator, whose body has not yet been found.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say Michael Arthur Howell, 44, of Indian Trail was charged with first-degree murder and is being held in the Mecklenburg County jail. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in court Tuesday afternoon.

He was taken into custody, detectives say, in connection with the disappearance of Sallie Rohrbach, 44. Howell owned and operated Dilworth Insurance Agency, the South Boulevard firm where Rohrbach was investigating a complaint.

Details of the complaint, which would normally be public, are not being released because of the police investigation, Chrissy Pearson, a Department of Insurance spokesman said this morning.

Rohrbach, who disappeared in Charlotte last Wednesday, was assigned to look through files, review Howell's books and interview him, Pearson said.

"We had absolutely no indication this would be anything but routine," Pearson said.

Rohrbach, who lived in Angier, a Harnett County town southeast of Raleigh, was a field examiner. She was typically dispatched to various areas of the state to investigate complaints ranging from an agency not handling books properly or failing to meet requirements to maintain a business.

Often her cases are handed off to criminal investigators. On this case, Rohrbach, who was covering for a colleague, came to Charlotte last Monday. She'd been staying at a hotel in the University City area and was scheduled to return to Raleigh on Friday, Pearson said. She was last seen at the Dilworth Insurance Agency on Wednesday afternoon, Pearson said.

The Dilworth agency was formed in 1985. It was dissolved in 1995, but reinstated in 1997 at which time it was renamed the Boulevard Insurance Agency, according to public documents.

The revenue department suspended Boulevard Insurance in 2004, citing its failure to file income tax paperwork, documents show.

A department spokesman this morning could not immediately provide information about the case.

James Buchanan, another man listed on public documents related to the company, could not be reached Sunday night or this morning.

Howell's dealings with the revenue department are unrelated to his license with the insurance department, which is a separate operation, Pearson said. The insurance department didn't have any complaints or any actions pending against him until recently, she said.

The insurance department this morning called in a minister to help with grieving employees.

"One of the prevailing sentiments here today is of course you look back and wonder what you could have done differently," Pearson said.

Investigators are trained to call in when or if they feel threatened or unsafe while in the field, Pearson said. In fact, Rohrbach had done so in the past.

"If only she'd called in for back up (this time)," she said.

On Sunday, police officers searched for Rohrbach in the South End business district after employees discovered her car that morning at a Bojangles restaurant at West Boulevard and South Tryon Street -- less than a half-mile from Howell's insurance agency.

They set up a command center in the parking lot of Price's Chicken Coop, a takeout restaurant near the Bojangles'. Officers spent the day canvassing the area with help from Charlotte firefighters, tracking dogs and a police helicopter.

Investigators late Sunday night collected evidence from the insurance agency, which they still have cordoned off this morning.

The circumstances surrounding Rohrbach's death are unknown. Police detectives have told reporters her body has not yet been found. Insurance department officials also are unsure of a motive.

Rohrbach's husband, Tim, told The Raleigh News & Observer that he last heard from his wife in an e-mail Tuesday. She had plans with friends in Charlotte on Wednesday night and never showed up, he said.

She also missed an appointment with a field supervisor in Charlotte on Thursday morning. Then she didn't connect as planned with friends on Thursday night, Pearson said.

Insurance department staff reported her missing Friday evening to Charlotte police after being unable to find anyone who'd seen her, Pearson said.

Rohrbach, who worked for the Insurance Department for eight years and had a reputation for being a thorough and conscientious employee.

"Right now we are in a grieving period," Pearson said. "It's going to take us some time to get over the shock of it, and we have a lot of work ahead of us."