A week after the body of Misty Lynn Carter, 21, was found on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office is still seeking clues in the case. This afternoon, investigators revealed that blunt force trauma to the head was the cause of death.
Around 6:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19, the sheriff’s office received a call (listen below) from a motorist who found Carter’s body — at that time unidentified — a few feet from the roadway close to milepost 395 near Glenn Gap.
“Initially we classified it as a ‘suspicious death,’ but it became clear this was a homicide,” Lt. Ross Dillingham told Xpress. “We put information out to media to try to identify the body.”
Eventually Carter’s family confirmed her identity. She was six weeks pregnant.
The crime is the first recorded killing in unincorporated areas of Buncombe County this year, and Dillingham asserted that the sheriff’s office is taking it extremely seriously.
“Since her body was identified, we’ve been working around the clock,” Dillingham said. “We’ve got seven detectives pursuing leads in this case.”
Medical examiners finished an autopsy last week, but the sheriff’s office held off on releasing the cause of death until this afternoon, when Dillingham told Xpress that blunt force trauma to the head killed Carter. He declined to reveal more information at this time.
Anyone with information about Carter’s murder can contact the sheriff’s office directly at 250-4506 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, contact Buncombe County Crimestoppers at 255-5050.
-- David Forbes, staff writer
Around 6:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19, the sheriff’s office received a call (listen below) from a motorist who found Carter’s body — at that time unidentified — a few feet from the roadway close to milepost 395 near Glenn Gap.
“Initially we classified it as a ‘suspicious death,’ but it became clear this was a homicide,” Lt. Ross Dillingham told Xpress. “We put information out to media to try to identify the body.”
Eventually Carter’s family confirmed her identity. She was six weeks pregnant.
The crime is the first recorded killing in unincorporated areas of Buncombe County this year, and Dillingham asserted that the sheriff’s office is taking it extremely seriously.
“Since her body was identified, we’ve been working around the clock,” Dillingham said. “We’ve got seven detectives pursuing leads in this case.”
Medical examiners finished an autopsy last week, but the sheriff’s office held off on releasing the cause of death until this afternoon, when Dillingham told Xpress that blunt force trauma to the head killed Carter. He declined to reveal more information at this time.
Anyone with information about Carter’s murder can contact the sheriff’s office directly at 250-4506 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, contact Buncombe County Crimestoppers at 255-5050.
-- David Forbes, staff writer
Read more articles in:
NewsSubscribe to XpressMail. Free Sneak Peek. Every Week.
Want to know what's coming out in Xpress this week before the paper even hits the stands?
We've got your free sneak peek, along with deals available in XpressMail, our weekly email newsletter. (It's the best we can do without time travel.)
-
Comments
-
Related Articles
-
Comments
Make a comment
The AC-T already has the details - it was blunt force trauma to the head that killed the girl.
By Foto-Jennic
10/26/2009
Very sad. Not to take away from the topic - I am convinced that the 911 personnel are highly ineffective and carry with them the poorest communication skills known to a society – Perhaps the reason why to date offices cannot come to an agreement on how to route 911 calls.
This is from my experience when talking to 911 personnel and from listening to the ones publicly made available.
Why?
By imv
10/26/2009