Body found wrapped in tarp during welfare check at rural home, NC sheriff says
A welfare check at a rural home in eastern North Carolina led to a body wrapped in a tarp, and a suspicious man standing in the backyard, according to investigators.
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The Pitt County Medical Examiner’s Office is working to confirm the identity of the body, officials said.
The discovery was made just before 2 p.m. Saturday at a house in the 9500 block of N.C. 43 South near Vanceboro, the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office said in an Oct. 5 news release.
“Upon arrival, deputies attempted to locate the elderly resident, but were unable to establish contact,” officials said. “Deputies entered the residence where they located a deceased person … wrapped in a tarp that was secured with duct tape.”
A search of the property revealed 23-year-old Caleb Wayne Phillips of Vanceboro was in the backyard, the sheriff’s office said.
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Phillips was questioned and has since been charged with felony destruction of a body/concealment of a death, and felony altering/destroying criminal evidence, the sheriff’s office said. He is being held under a $200,000 bond.
An affidavit reports Phillips destroyed evidence at the home: A table lamp that may have been used as a weapon.
Court records show he lives in the 9800 block of N.C. 43 South.
The home where the body was found is about a 150-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.
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