Body of woman missing 4 years found under floor of rural North Carolina site, cops say
The body of a Virginia woman who went missing four years ago was discovered under the floors of “a preexisting structure” in rural North Carolina.
Sarah Ashley Hill “had not been seen or heard from since June 2018,” according to a joint statement released Oct. 21 by sheriff’s offices in Stokes and Surry counties.
A cause of death has not been revealed and no arrest was announced.
Hill’s body was found Monday, Oct. 17, while detectives were searching property at 1791 Asbury Road in Westfield. The property is 110 miles northwest of Durham, on the Virginia state line.
News stations identified the structure as a home that “has been vacant for awhile,” WXII said.
“Detectives brought in specialized personnel to utilize heavy equipment to move dirt and terrain and stabilize an existing structure,” the news release said. “The human remains were located beneath the floor of a preexisting structure.”
An autopsy performed Oct. 20 at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center confirmed the remains were those of Hill, officials said.
Hill was 33 when she vanished June 6, 2018, from a site on Blue Hollow Road in Mount Airy, N.C., according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Detectives did not reveal what led them to the Westfield site, but it is the latest in a series of property searches conducted in the case.
Three sites were searched on King Park Circle in Mount Airy, where Hill was seen “around the time of her disappearance,” officials said.
King Park Circle is just over 10 miles from where the body was found.
“The investigation is ongoing at this time. .... If anyone has any information regarding the death of Ms. Hill, they are strongly encouraged to contact the Stokes County Sheriff’s Office and/or the Surry County Sheriff’s Office,” officials said.
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 1:19 PM with the headline "Body of woman missing 4 years found under floor of rural North Carolina site, cops say."