County employees mowing grass on Brewer Road, just off of N.C. Hwy. 403, made the shocking discovery of a dead body around 9:10 a.m. Thursday. The man was believed to have been shot to death.
Within minutes of the discovery, investigators from the county’s Special Investigations Division and the Criminal Investigations Division, along with Sheriff Jimmy Thornton, were on the scene, located at the end of Brewer Road, just north of Lake Artesia Road, near Faison.
“What happened was the employees were mowing and came across the body,” said Thornton at the scene. “They immediately called and reported it and we got out here and blocked off the area.”
Dressed in full lab suits, detectives processed the death scene that was just before the dead end on Brewer Road, next door to Interstate 40.
“Right now, we don’t even have his identity,” Thornton admitted. “We really don’t know what happened to him. All we know right now is that his body was found right here in this ditch.”
By 10 a.m. Thursday, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) was on the scene. By 11 a.m,. Sampson County Medical Examiner Dr. F. Carl Barr had also arrived.
Dr. Barr would later say that the unidentified man was shot multiple times.
“He is a black male, late 30s, possibly early 40s,” the medical examiner noted late Thursday afternoon. “All of his identification was removed, but he was shot a couple times in the head and a couple times in the chest.”
Dr. Barr could not offer more details on the shooting because he said he had not conducted a full autopsy of the victim.
However, he did note that the unidentified man had not been out in the elements too long. “There was no deterioration that I could find. I would estimate that he was out there late night (Wednesday) or early morning (Thursday),” the medical examiner said.
Thornton said investigators have checked all missing persons reports in Sampson and surrounding counties to try and identify the man but have been unsuccessful. Investigators stayed on the scene throughout Thursday searching for more clues.
If you have any information on this case,you are asked to call the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office at 910-592-4141.
To reach Doug Clark call 910-592-8137 ext. 123 or email to sisports@heartlandpublications.com.
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