LUMBERTON — A badly decomposed body of a male that was found Tuesday night in the city has been sent to the state Medical Examiner’s Office for identification, according to a statement by police Capt. Terry Parker.
Parker said a city officer on patrol found the body about 10 p.m. in woods near the end of Leggett Street, which is in South Lumberton, not far from Lumberton Junior High School. City detectives and agents with the State Bureau of Investigation worked the scene and the case is being handled as a homicide based on evidence that was collected there, according to Parker. An identification was not possible because of the state of the body.
However, police do not believe the body is that of Eric Evans, a Lumberton man who went missing recently and has been the subject of several searches, including through the air.
Anyone with information concerning this investigation should contact police Detectives Yvette Pitts or Lee Hinson. The number to the police department is 910-671-3845.
It is the fourth badly decomposed body found in the city this year. The other three were found in the East Lumberton area.
The bodies of Christina Bennett, 32, of the 1900 block of Eastwood Terrace, and Rhonda Jones, 36, of Troy Drive, both in Lumberton, were both found on April 18. Bennett’s body was found inside a run-down house at 505 Peachtree St., and Jones’ body wad found a short time later nearby.
In June the body of 28-year-old Megan Ann Oxendine was found behind an abandoned house at 608 E. Eighth St.
The causes of death for all three women have not been determined.