Search of vacant home in Burke County leads to warrant in missing person case

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — The Burke County Sheriff’s Office says investigators have a new lead in the disappearance of Anthony John Jaworsky after a search Tuesday at a house in Hildebran.

A large police presence could be seen Tuesday on Curleys Fish Camp Road near Highway 70.

Channel 9′s Dave Faherty learned that investigators from Burke and Catawba counties have been working the missing-person case for nearly a year. Then, on Tuesday, they executed a search warrant at a vacant home.

Catawba County deputies could be seen digging on the property for hours, along the driveway and also about 50 yards away in a field. The sheriff said the home was the last place the person was seen alive.

“The person was last seen here at this residence, so we’re executing a search warrant trying to find evidence if the person was here,” Burke County Sheriff Steve Whisenant told Channel 9 Tuesday.

Channel 9 saw a dog trained to find human remains searching the property Wednesday. At one point, the K-9 stopped and began barging in the exact spot where deputies dug for hours on Tuesday.

Wednesday, BCSO said investigators found evidence at the Curley’s Fish Camp Road property leading to an arrest warrant. The sheriff’s office says Mark Anthony Ortiz of Hickory is wanted for felonious disposal of a body and felonious obstruction of justice.

Ortiz wasn’t in custody as of Wednesday afternoon, the sheriff’s office said. BCSO says the investigation is still ongoing.

Jaworsky was last seen by his family in the Conover area on July 13, 2021, and his vehicle was located along Interstate 40 in Iredell County.

Deputies got to the home around lunchtime Tuesday. Several SBI agents were also at the scene.

Faherty spoke with several neighbors in the area Wednesday morning, who said people were living at the home recently and in the shed out back, and would often fire weapons on the property.

“We noticed part of a semi-automatic weapon, several shots. They were shooting up the power line,” neighbor Ken Church said.

Anyone with any information on where Ortiz may be is asked to call the Burke County Sheriff’s Office at 828-438-5500.

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