Bodies found in car registered to one of 2 missing women, North Carolina cops say
Two unidentified bodies were found in a car linked to a missing couple, North Carolina police say.
Wilmington police say they made the grim discovery “deep in the woods” on Monday.
“Due to the effects of decomposition, police cannot positively identify the two bodies at this time,” officers said that evening in a news release.
Police say the bodies were found inside a gray Dodge Dart registered to Paige Escalera, 25. She and her fiancee, 27-year-old Stephanie Mayorga, were last seen on April 15.
Escalera and Mayorga were reported missing after they walked out of their Wilmington apartment nearly three weeks ago, police said in a news release. The women left all their belongings behind in the ”suspicious” disappearance, according to officers.
The women left in the Dodge Dart, which was “covered in vegetation” when it was later found Monday. Police say the car “may have been involved in an extremely high velocity crash” near the Watermark Marina.
Officers were called to the area on April 15 in response to a report of a car that may have hit a wall and gone into the woods, but they didn’t find a crash site at the time, according to police.
The Wilmington Police Department on Tuesday morning didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for additional information.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the discovery of the two bodies was under investigation, and autopsies were scheduled, according to police.
This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Bodies found in car registered to one of 2 missing women, North Carolina cops say."
