A cognitively impaired North Carolina woman who was last seen alive on a doorbell camera last week when she got into a stranger’s car was found dead in the woods just miles from where she disappeared.
Heather Williams, 25, was caught leaving her family’s home in Fayetteville on Jan. 4 around 10 p.m. getting into a “light-colored sedan with a sunroof” with a Ring doorbell, according to local police.
Fayetteville police launched a missing persons investigation into Williams’ disappearance and issued an endangered persons alert on Jan. 7 “due to cognitive impairment.”
However, the 25-year-old’s body was found by police officers Friday around 5 p.m. in a wooded area, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from where she was last seen alive, the department said in a release. statement Saturday.
Williams’ death is being investigated as a homicide, the department revealed.
“It is with heavy and broken hearts that our family confirms the horrific news,” her sister Mary Williams wrote. Facebook Saturday.
“I pray that whoever is responsible for this is held accountable and that justice is brought to Heather.”
Maria told it WRAL that the family did not know the person driving the vehicle and speculated that Williams — who had cognitive impairment and limited speech and limited use of her right leg and right arm after being hit by a car in 2015 — may have met the person online.
“She was so gullible and naive about the dangers out there,” she said.
The same day Williams’ body was found, police located the suspect’s vehicle.
“I just ask people out there, if they hear something or see something, you know, someone knows something, someone talked to someone, someone has, you know, they make a mistake along the way,” Mary told WRAL.
“So someone must know something.”
Researchers confirmed this CBS 17 that they have some leads that they are investigating, but they have not yet been able to identify a person of interest in the case.
“What happened to Heather is horrible and I wouldn’t want it to happen to anyone else, and so with that person still out there and still able to harm other people, it’s horrific to think about thinking,” Mary told CBS 17.
Mary said her family “found comfort in the love Heather had for God and through all her trials and tribulations she never lost her faith and I know we won’t lose ours either.”
“I thank God for the years we had with her,” she said.
Investigators have asked anyone with information about Williams’ case to contact Detective E. Alrafai of the Fayetteville Police Department at (910) 723-0327 or Crimestoppers at (910) 483-TIPS (8477).
