FBI calls death of Pisgah Inn employee a homicide

CANTON, N.C. — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the discovery of a body at an inn in North Carolina.

FBI spokeswoman Shelley Lynch told area news outlets the general manager of the Pisgah Inn called Blue Ridge Parkway dispatch Tuesday to report a missing female employee.

National Park Service rangers joined local rescue crews in a search, and searchers found a woman's body near a path connecting the inn to the inn's employee housing around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

On Wednesday, investigators tentatively identified the victim as 29-year-old Sara Ellis, who was employed as a pantry cook at the Pisgah Inn.

The cause of death was not immediately known but the FBI is investigating the death as a homicide.

FBI officials said in a news release the body of Ellis, 29, of Seminole, Florida, showed evidence of foul play.

Because the incident occurred on federal property, the FBI is taking the lead in the investigation with help from the National Park Service and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

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Associated Press