Two missing teenagers have been found dead of gunshot wounds in Orange County near Hillsborough. Coverage of the investigation follows.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday announced a suspect in the deaths of two teenagers who were found with gunshot wounds outside Hillsborough on Sunday. Court officials filed a juvenile complaint against a 17-year-old who will be charged with two counts of murder, according to a news release. The name of the suspect, who was not yet in custody as of Tuesday afternoon, has not been released. “Through the hard work of my investigators, along with the assistance of personnel from several other law enforcement agencies, we have located a suspect in this case,” Sheriff Charles Blackwood said in a statement. “We will now work with local, state and federal authorities to apprehend and bring the suspect to justice.” First-degree murder is a Class A felony, and in North Carolina, 16- and 17-year-olds who commit this crime are no longer automatically charged as adults. If there is probable cause or an indictment for a juvenile, the district court judge will refer the case to the superior court for a decision. Lyric Woods, 14, and Devin Clark, 18, were found dead in the Buckhorn Road area outside Hillsborough around 3pm on Sunday. Local high school students suffered gunshot wounds and the Sheriff’s Office launched a homicide investigation. Investigators are still waiting for the State Medical Examiner’s Office to officially confirm their identities and cause of death. “While we do not yet have that confirmation, in the absence of other missing persons matching the descriptions of the individuals located, the tragic but logical conclusion is increasingly clear,” Blackwood said in a news release Monday. A makeshift memorial stands a few feet from the entrance to a dirt road in Orange County Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that the two youths found shot and killed Sunday in west Orange County are missing teenagers, Lyric Woods , 14, and Devin Clark, 18. Travis Long [email protected]
What we know
When did Lyric and Devin last appear? The two teenagers were missing from their families before their bodies were found on Sunday. Woods was last seen by her stepfather around 11 p.m. Friday at their home in Efland in west Orange County, according to a missing persons report filed with the sheriff’s office around noon Saturday. Her stepfather said he learned Woods was missing around 10 a.m. Saturday when he went to wake her up, according to the report. A copy of Clark’s missing persons report released by the Mebane Police Department said he was also last seen around 11 p.m. Friday, but provided few other details. The report was filed Sunday around 11:25 a.m Who found their bodies? Two men riding four-wheelers found the teenagers just before 3 a.m. Sunday, according to the Sheriff’s Office. ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner, reported they were found near a power plant in the Buckhorn Road area outside Hillsborough. The location is about 2 miles from the home where Woods was last seen. A memorial of crosses, candles, lights and other items has been erected at the site by community members, friends and family. On Monday afternoon, a memorial service was held for Clark at Eastern Alamance High School. How can people help catch the killer or give information? Anyone with possible information about the case is asked to call Investigator Keith Goodwin at the Sheriff’s Office at 919-245-2918. Their office is working with the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office, the Efland Fire Department, the Burlington Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Highway Patrol’s Viper Unit, according to Tuesday’s release. Woods’ grandfather, Stan Dean, is also offering a $10,000 reward for anyone with information on who is responsible for her death. Stan Dean, the grandfather of Lyric Woods, stands over a makeshift memorial located a few feet from the entrance to a dirt road in Orange County Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that the two youths were found shot to death and killed Sunday in west Orange County missing teenagers Lyric Woods, 14, and Devin Clark, 18. Travis Long [email protected] Records, including the 911 calls and incident report in the case, will not be released to the public or media until after the sheriff’s approval and the investigation is complete, according to Kevin Medlin, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.
Who Were Lyric Woods and Devin Clark?
What schools did Lyric and Devin attend? Woods was a ninth grader at Cedar Ridge Middle School in Hillsborough and Clark was a senior at Eastern Alamance High School. The sheriff’s office did not say whether the two students knew each other, although several posts by friends and family on social media indicated the two were friends. Clark was a wide receiver for the Eastern Alamance football team, according to a statement from the Alamance-Burlington School System. In addition to Cedar Ridge, Woods had attended Gravelly Hill Middle and Efland-Cheeks Global Elementary, the school district said. How can people help their families? As of Tuesday afternoon, two GoFundMe pages had raised more than $40,000 to help the teenagers’ families pay for their funeral expenses. The Friends of Woods family set up this verified GoFundMe. Clark’s aunt has set up this GoFundMe page for him.
The Orange Report
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This story was originally published on September 20, 2022 at 2:09 pm.
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Kristen Johnson is a reporter on the breaking news team at The News & Observer. He is a graduate of UNC Charlotte and American University.
Colleen Hammond is a recent graduate of Duquesne University from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has previously covered breaking news, local government, the COVID-19 pandemic and racial issues for the Pittsburgh City Paper and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
