Cognitively impaired North Carolina woman found dead in woods days after stepping into stranger's car, murder suspected
Heather Williams, 25, was last seen alive on a doorbell camera last week getting into a stranger’s car.
A cognitively impaired North Carolina woman who had disappeared has been found dead in the woods just miles from where she went missing. 25-year-old Heather Williams was last seen alive on a doorbell camera last week getting into a stranger’s car.
A Ring doorbell captured Williams leaving her family’s Fayetteville home before stepping into a “light-colored sedan with a sunroof” on January 4 at around 10 pm, local law enforcement said, according to New York Post. A missing persons investigation was subsequently launched by the Fayetteville Police Department. They also issued an endangered person alert “due to cognitive impairment” on January 7.
On Friday, January 10, cops found Williams’ body in a wooded area around 5 pm. She was found only five miles from where she was last seen alive. The department said in a statement that her “next of kin has been notified.”
The department said that Williams’ death is being investigated as a homicide.
‘I pray whoever is responsible for this is held accountable’
Williams’ sister, Mary Williams, confirmed the news in a heartbreaking Facebook post. “I pray whoever is responsible for this is held accountable and there is justice for Heather,” Mary wrote. “I know she has gone to be with Jesus. I know she is experiencing nothing but pure joy, bliss and is finally healed. Walking normal, talking normal, and rejoicing, as I can only imagine what her reunion with our brother was like.”
“Our family finds comfort in the love that Heather had for God and through all her trials and tribulations, she has never lost her faith and I know we won't lose ours either. I thank God for the years we had with her. Thank you everyone who has prayed, reached out and helped us to try to find her. Please continue to pray for my parents,” Mary added.
Williams had limited speech and limited use of her right leg and right arm after being hit by a car back in 2015. Mary told WRAL that the family did not know the person who was driving the car Williams got into, but they believe the two may have met online. “She was just so trusting and naive to what the dangers were out there,” Mary said of her sister.
Police found the suspect’s car the same day Williams’ body was found. “I just ask that people out there, if they hear anything or if they see something, you know, somebody knows something, somebody’s talked to somebody, somebody has, you know, they slip up along the way,” Mary said. “So somebody’s got to know something.”
Investigators told CBS 17 that they have not identified a person of interest yet, but are looking into some leads they have. “What happened to Heather is awful and I wouldn’t want it to happen to anybody else, and so with that person still out there, still able to harm other people, it’s horrific to think about,” Mary told the outlet.
Marry added that her family has found “comfort in the love that Heather had for God and through all her trials and tribulations, she has never lost her faith and I know we won’t lose ours either.” “I thank God for the years we had with her,” she said.
Investigators have urged people with information about the case to contact Fayetteville police Detective E. Alrafai at (910) 723-0327 or Crimestoppers at (910) 483-TIPS (8477).