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GASTONIA Authorities said Thursday they are continuing to investigate the death of a 30-year-old woman whose body was found Sunday in a state park in northwest York County -- and whether that woman's death was related to the murder of a 17-year-old woman whose body was discovered three weeks ago in York County.
But multiple sources confirmed that Randi Dean Saldana, whose body was found Sunday in Kings Mountain State Park, was acquainted with Heather Marie Catterton, whose body was found Oct. 29 near a bridge on Robinson Yelton Road, about nine miles from where Saldana's remains were discovered.
The York County Sheriff's Office said each case is being investigated as a homicide, but detectives have not said if the two deaths were connected.
Saldana's boyfriend, Tim Gause, told the Observer's news partner, WCNC-TV, that Saldana knew Catterton. However, he said they did not have much in common because of the difference in their ages.
Nick Catterton, the father of Heather Catterton, told reporters Wednesday that he believes Saldana's death was related to his daughter's case. "They run with the same crowd," Catterton told the Gaston Gazette.
Saldana's body was spotted in an open area of the park Sunday afternoon by a woman on horseback, authorities said. The park is in York and Cherokee counties in South Carolina, and is adjacent to the Kings Mountain National Military Park.
On Oct. 29, the body of Catterton, of Gastonia, was found near a bridge on Robinson Yelton Road, near Clover, about nine miles by car from where Saldana's body was found. Authorities are also investigating that case as a homicide.
The York County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday morning that authorities received phone calls in Saldana's death investigation after information about the discovery of the body had been released to the media. They did not elaborate.
Saldana was mostly raised by her grandparents, the late R.B. and Edna Moore, said her great-aunt Willa Mae Martin, of Gastonia.
"She was a very, very sweet and pretty girl," Martin said. "She got messed up with drugs and the wrong people. I don't think she was into hard drugs."
Martin said she and the family took the news of Saldana's death hard.
"We feel bad and it hurts us deeply," she said. "I think young girls out there don't realize the danger. They need to stop and think about that."
Saldana had a lengthy record of arrests dating back 10 years, according to a check of N.C. criminal records. The charges included several felonies, such as robbery with a dangerous weapon in February 2008 and larceny of a firearm in February 2007. She served short jail terms in Gaston County, but most of the charges against her had been dismissed, according to court records.
Anyone with information in the cases is asked to call the York County Sheriff's Office, 803-628-3059, or York County Crime Stoppers, 877-409-4321.
Staff writer Joe DePriest and WCNC-TV contributed
