Witness Puts Suspect At Site Where Wendell Woman's Body Found

RALEIGH, N.C. — A tow-truck driver said Monday he came in contact with the man accused of killing a Wendell woman on the same day she went missing, but didn't realize it until her body was found earlier this month.

Meanwhile, a Wake County grand jury on Monday indicted Antonio Chance, 29, on charges of first-degree murder in connection with Cynthia Moreland's death

Last week, authorities served a warrant for murder on Chance, who was already being held on kidnapping charges in connection with Moreland's disappearance. Her last known whereabouts are believed to be the downtown-Raleigh parking garage below Progress Energy, where she worked, on Aug. 22.

Moreland's body was found behind a vacant farmhouse on Sept. 1 in a rural area of Harnett County, about 3 miles from Coats.

The driver who works for Sherill's Wrecker Service in Angier said he got a call at 8:17 a.m. on Aug. 22 about a man whose car was stuck in a ditch near the farmhouse. The call, he said, came from a passer-by who was the first to offer help.

At about 8:30 a.m., he said, he pulled the car out of the ditch.

The tow-truck driver said the man, who he believes was Chance, paid for the tow using a check from Moreland's bank account and that the man signed Moreland's husband's name --Walter Moreland -- to it.

The driver also said that the man acted "strung out" and said he was lost and needed directions to Angier.

The day after Moreland, 48, disappeared, investigators found her 1998 Toyota Camry on Malta Avenue in southwest Raleigh. Detectives had hoped that soil and plant material found on the vehicle would lead them to Moreland.

Chance was identified after a person fitting his description was caught on video allegedly using Moreland's debit card to purchase items at a discount store in Garner.

The tow-truck driver said he had not followed Moreland's case and did not realize his encounter until after her body was discovered.

Chance remains in the Wake County Jail under a $1 million bond. Moreland was laid to rest on Saturday.

Raleigh police on Monday did not offer comment on the case.