Authorities in North Carolina made an arrest in a 15-year-old cold case after the sheriff’s department received information about human remains at a home in Spring Hope last week.
Deputies found human remains buried in a shallow grave behind a house owned by Kimberly Hancock on Thursday.
Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone says there is “a strong possibility” the remains belong to Deborah Deans, who went missing in 2004 when she was 29. She was last seen at Hancock’s home, reported the Associated Press.
“What we found is it appears to be the remains of one person that was in a shallow grave, wrapped in debris in the backyard here,” Stone said, reported WTVD.
Hancock, 49, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
WTVD reports that the two women were sisters-in-law and lived together for a short period of time.
“We were able to paint the picture of what actually happened 15 years ago and we wanted to verify some information with her,” Nash County Chief Deputy Brandon Medina told the ABC-affiliate. “Based on that information, we were able to obtain a warrant.”
Authorities were alerted by a series of tips that were emailed to the Fighting Crime website, reported WRAL. That information was then forwarded to the sheriff’s department. Stone called the tips “very detailed” and the results following the investigation “very accurate.”
When asked about the tipster, the sites’ administrator, a woman, told WRAL: “I am really not sure, and I hate to speculate. I am not positive how they knew, but they knew enough to raise the eyebrows of detectives over at the sheriff’s office.” She added that the tipster named a person involved in burying the body.
Hancock made her first appearance in court on Friday morning. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit and shackled at the waist, she was formally charged with first-degree murder. She is being held at Nash County jail without bond.
Man Arrested in 1986 Cold Case Murder of 11-Year-Old Girl
Maine State Police’s Tactical Team arrested a man in the 33-year-old cold case murder of sixth grader Kathleen Flynn.
Police arrested 53-year-old Marc Karun as he was leaving his house outside of Bangor, Maine, earlier this year, the Norwalk Police Department said.
On Sept. 23, 1986, 11-year-old Kathleen Flynn took a path across the woods as she walked home from Ponus Ridge Middle School in Norwalk. But she never arrived home.
Her parents reported her missing and an extensive search followed.
Eventually, her body was found. Kathleen had been strangled to death in the woods some 100 feet from the path.
Several tips had been provided to police regarding a possible suspect, but none led to an arrest.
Karun had been arrested and sentenced ten years earlier in 1989 for a sexual assault in Connecticut, according to Maine’s sex offender registry.
After his arrest, Kathleen’s family issued a statement, saying, “We wish to thank the Norwalk Police Department for bringing Kathleen’s murderer to justice.
“This continues to be a very difficult time for us, and we do not wish to make any further comments. We ask the media to please respect our privacy.”
