3 arrested in NC heroin investigation

DARE COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) - A joint investigation by the Dare County Sheriff's Narcotic Unit, the Kill Devil Hills Police Department and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation led to the arrest of three men.

According to Dare County Sheriff J.D. "Doug" Doughtie, the investigation in Kill Devil Hills began on Sept. 24, 2012. Michael Stuart Melchi, 51, was arrested on the following charges: possession with intent to sell or deliver heroin (2 Counts), sell or deliver heroin and conspiracy to sell or deliver heroin. A second suspect, James Willard Melchi, 67, was charged with conspiracy to sell or deliver heroin. The two Kill Devil Hills men lived at the same home on Virginia Dare Trail.

The case also took investigators to Southern Shores, where they arrested Claude Renaud, 57, and charged him with sell or deliver heroin, conspiracy to sell or deliver heroin and possession of heroin. He was released on a $25,000 bond.