Fayetteville police collecting evidence after remains found

A man walking along a rail line that parallels Winslow Street spotted the remains about 5 feet off the tracks near the Southern Avenue intersection, police said. He reported the find to employees in a nearby Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad office, and they called police.

Investigators recovered a skull and some teeth Tuesday evening, and they returned to the area Wednesday morning to search for more evidence, Assistant Police Chief Charles Kimble said. They have since recovered several more bones but haven't found any clothing or other identifying material, he said.

All evidence has been sent to a medical examiner for an autopsy. Kimble said police don't yet know the gender, age or race of the person.

It's unclear whether the person died along the tracks or the body was dumped there, he said.

Police haven't been able to track down the man who found the remains to question him, Kimble said. He left the area after notifying railroad workers about it.

Kimble said it would be unfair to speculate on the remains until the medical examiner provides more information.

"It's always disturbing knowing that a person may have come to some type of demise, whether a medical condition or a victim of crime," he said. "We as investigators have to work backwards ... and hopefully we can bring some closure to the family once we find out what happened."

The discovery has prompted renewed questions from the family of 39-year-old Marcella Anne Thompson, who has been missing since September. The family said Wednesday that police asked for Thompson's dental records, although investigators have not publicly made a connection in the two cases.

"In one way, you hope it’s not her. You hope she’s still out there somewhere. And in another way, you hope it is her because you want some type of closure,” said Terrin Thompson, Marcella Anne’s husband of 12 years.

Terrin Thompson said his wife left the house one day to run errands and never returned.

Police found her vehicle hours later. Officers say 38-year old Pierre Lowe crashed the car as he ran from police. He was charged with eluding and resisting.

“Was she kidnapped? Was she carjacked?” Terrin Thompson said. “She loved all of us. She loved her daughter. She was a good person – very caring about everybody.”

Not knowing her fate has been difficult.