Body found in NC river identified as 68-year-old woman missing for 2 weeks, police say
A woman who had been missing for two weeks was found dead in a North Carolina river, police said.
Willie Jean Teel, 68, was first reported missing on Feb. 12, according to a Bladen County Sheriff’s Office’s news release posted on Facebook.
When deputies first investigated, they found some of Teel’s belongings along the Cape Fear River, but there was no sign of Teel, Sheriff James A. McVicker said in the news release.
After officials searched the river and the land around it, Teel was entered as a missing person into the national database.
Deputies searched the river again on Feb. 25 and noticed a body floating in the water close to the area where Teel was reported missing, McVicker said.
Teel’s identify was confirmed on March 4 by the medical examiner in Raleigh according to McVicker, but no cause of death was released.
Members of the community shared their condolences on the sheriff’s Facebook posts.
“My condolences to her family and friends…I remember her as a caring teacher and artist,” one person commented.
“[Teel] was a good lady, she never deserved any of this.” Another person commented. “She was one of the sweetest women I knew in my life.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Body found in NC river identified as 68-year-old woman missing for 2 weeks, police say."
