The body found Friday morning in the Francis Marion National Forest was Watauga County native Dara Lee Watson, authorities confirmed in a 4:15 p.m. press conference Saturday.

Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten said Watson died of a single gunshot wound to the head. Wooten called her death a homicide.

Watson's body was found buried approximately 60 yards from where her GMC Envoy was found burned off Halfway Creek Road on Feb. 7, Mount Pleasant Police Chief Harry Sewell said.

He said the body was not immediately found due to changing conditions in the forest.

Sewell also said that investigators believe Watson's fiancè, 34-year-old David Lee Hedrick, hid her death by sending text messages from her phone. Sewell said evidence — including a resignation letter — suggests Hedrick planned to leave the area.

He was found dead Friday at the couple's home just hours after Watson was reported missing. Investigators believe he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The gun he used has been submitted for forensic comparison, Sewell said.

The announcement concludes a heart-wrenching saga that has unfolded in the days since 30-year-old Watson left Boone Feb. 6 with Hedrick to return to their home in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

In the days after Watson was reported missing Feb. 10, search teams examined wide areas of the forest as well as several ponds in the couple's Rivertowne subdivision.

Watson's cell phone was found in one of those ponds Thursday.

According to police, two separate witnesses saw Hedrick in the forest area Feb. 7: one reported seeing him near the burned vehicle with a shovel, and another reported that he hitched a ride back toward the couple's home about 15 miles away.

A friend who found Hedrick dead Friday told dispatchers that the couple had broken up.

Sewell praised the investigators and search teams for their conscientious efforts and said they approached the work as though they were looking for their own family member.

“They did not stop and they did remarkable work, night and day, and I'm so proud of each and every one of them,” Sewell said.

Hedrick's funeral was held Thursday evening in Moncks Corner, S.C., where his mother lives, according to the Dial-Murray Funeral Home.

No plans have been set yet for Watson's funeral.