CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - A skull and bones found in a wooded area in January have been identified by a sheriff’s office as those of a woman who has been missing since 2016.
Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said in a news release on Wednesday that 29-year-old Anastasia Talisha Meaders died after being shot in the head. Deputies found the remains scattered in woods near a water tower and the grocery store at Lake Norman in southern Iredell County.
Campbell said investigators sent the bones to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem for an autopsy. According to the investigators, the bones were exposed to the weather for so long that the victim’s race, age and gender couldn’t be immediately determined. The remains were then sent to North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where they were analyzed for nearly 10 months.
In October, the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification notified investigators that DNA from a tooth confirmed the victim’s identity. the release said.
In July 2016, Meaders’ car was found abandoned at a park in Mooresville. Investigators hope someone can identify the driver who gave Meaders’ killer a ride after leaving the her car.
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