Woman’s body found along Cabarrus County highway, sheriff says

CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — A fisherman made a frightening call to 911 after discovering the body of a woman was dumped along U.S. Highway 601 South near Parks Lafferty Road in Cabarrus County.

Now the sheriff’s office is working to figure out how the woman’s body ended up in the area after it was discovered Monday night.

Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz has been in communication with deputies as they await key information in this case.

What is normally a peaceful spot on the Rocky River turned into part of a crime scene.

According to the police report, just before 5 p.m. on Monday, a fisherman found a woman’s body on a trail from Highway 601 down to Rocky River and called 911.

“Hey, I’m calling because I just found a dead body down by the river,” the fisherman said. “I’m trying to go fishing, but she looks like a female. She has a trash bag over her head.”

Cabarrus County EMS moves to new HQ, 10 times bigger than the last

Craig Ledue said the call was jarring to hear, as someone who has been living in the area for more than a decade.

“Yeah, that’s shocking. I never knew that would happen around here,” LeDue said. “Scary, freaky, yeah, yeah. Makes you wonder what somebody would have done.”

Ledue explained that his house sits along the river near the overpass, and he has never had an issue or seen anything out of the ordinary recently.

“Usually, the kids come down maybe once or twice a year. You’ll see them out here in the river,” Ledue elaborated.

Ledue said even last night things were calm.

“Around 5:30 p.m., I was on my way to work, and I saw the cops up on the top of the hill at the end of the guardrail,” Ledue said.

The Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office told Channel 9 that investigators believe the body was dumped in the area. They do believe, however, that it was placed there yesterday and that it was not the original crime scene.

They are also waiting on the identity of the woman so the investigation can move forward.

VIDEO: Cabarrus County man accused of using PPP loans to gamble, buy properties