Odd comment from Dollar General customer leads to human remains in woods, NC cops say

UPDATE: The remains have been identified as those of Jim Dennis Ramsey, 53, of Lincolnton, who was reported missing on June 21, 2022, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office reported in a Jan. 2 case update. “Foul play is not suspected in his death,” officials said.

The original story is below.

A Dollar General employee is credited with tipping deputies off to a skeleton after one of the store’s customers mentioned seeing a skull in the woods, according to investigators in Lincoln County.

Deputies investigated and found the skull Wednesday, Dec. 27, in an unincorporated area northeast of Lincolnton, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The community is about 30 miles northwest of Charlotte.

“Deputies were dispatched to the scene shortly before 1:00 p.m. ... after receiving a report from an employee of Dollar General ... that a customer told him he believed he found a human skull as he was walking through the wooded area,” the sheriff’s office said.

“After detectives arrived on the scene they located other skeletal remains of the individual nearby.”

The discovery was made near the intersection of Lee Lawing Road and North Carolina Highway 150 East, which is just south of the store’s parking lot, maps show.

The N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office is working to determine the person’s identity and cause of death, officials said.

This story was originally published December 28, 2023 at 5:51 AM with the headline "Odd comment from Dollar General customer leads to human remains in woods, NC cops say."