The fiance of a missing woman with Boone connections was found dead Friday in the residence they shared, several South Carolina news outlets are reporting.
Dara Lee Watson, 30, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., left her mother's house in Boone on Monday in a silver 2006 GMC Envoy, according to The Post and Courier.
Law enforcement agencies began searching part of Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina for clues after finding her vehicle badly burned late in the woods off Halfway Creek Road, according to ABC News 4 in Charleston, S.C. Conflicting information is being reported about when her vehicle was found.
An intensified search concluded at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday with no results, according to ABC News 4. A spokesman for the Charleston County Sheriff's Office said search efforts in the forest area would not resume unless there were new leads.
Now, the Charleston County coroner is confirming that the body of David Hedrick was found in his home Friday, according to The Post and Courier. The cause of death has not yet been released.
Hedrick was Watson's fiance and lived with her at the home, the newspaper reported.
According to published reports, Watson's boss received a text message Wednesday saying she was fine, but no one has heard from her since.
Her cell phone was last used at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, and cell phone towers placed her in the vicinity of Venning Road in Mount Pleasant.
Watson is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, about 130 pounds and has brown hair and blue eyes. She is the daughter of Darrel and Ellen Watson, owners of Watsonatta Western World in Boone.
Anyone with information about her whereabouts can call Mount Pleasant police at (843) 884-4176.