Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

5:46 p.m. • 5-22-13

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Thu: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 83° F
  • Fri: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 74° F
  • Sat: Clear.
    • Hi: 72° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Published: 2008-03-06 17:11:00
Updated: 2008-03-07 11:03:09

Slain UNC Senior's Missing SUV Found


Eve Carson portrait
Eve Carson portrait
print friendly

As thousands gathered on the UNC campus Thursday afternoon to remember slain UNC senior Eve Carson, police recovered her sport utility vehicle a little more than a mile from where police found her body Wednesday morning. (Read more about Carson's life and reaction at UNC and view related video.)

Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian Curran said a resident on North Street spotted the blue 2005 Toyota Highlander with Georgia license plate AIV-6690 at about 2 p.m. near the intersection of North and Hillsborough streets.

The SUV was taken to the town's operations center for processing, so detectives could look for more information about Carson's death. Curran said it did not appear to be damaged.

"We saw it on the news, and we heard the woman is the president of the student body, and she (his wife) goes, 'Oh my God, I just found the car,'" Toby Rice, of Chapel Hill, told The Associated Press. "She called 911. She took pictures of it with her Blackberry."

Police found Carson's body at about 5:15 a.m. Wednesday after responding to reports of gunshots in the area of Davie Circle. She had been shot multiple times, at least once in the head.

She was dressed in a T-shirt, sweatpants and tennis shoes and had no identification with her. Carson's roommates, who said they last saw her alive at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, contacted police Wednesday evening, and then identified her body, Curran said.

Carson had stayed at home to do homework while her roommates went out, he said. However, Curran would not comment on a possible timeline of events in the four-hour period leading up to the discovery of her body.

Investigators still have no motive or suspects in the case and urged the public to call police at 919-968-2760 or Crime Stoppers at 919-942-7515 if they think they have information that might help.

Curran said investigators are particularly interested to hear from anyone who might have seen the SUV between 1:30 a.m. Wednesday and midday Thursday.

Curran also said investigators had been in contact with Auburn, Ala., police, who are investigating the shooting death of Auburn University student Lauren Burk. At this point in the investigation, he said, it appeared unlikely the two deaths were connected.

Burk, an 18-year-old freshman from Marietta, Ga., was found wounded on Alabama Highway 147 around 9 p.m. Tuesday, and Auburn police said her Honda Civic was found engulfed in flames at the campus about 20 minutes later. She died at a hospital.

Carson was UNC's student body president, and her death brought grief to the campus, where about 5,000 students, faculty and staff gathered for a brief memorial service Thursday afternoon. Thousands also attended a candlelit vigil Thursday evening at the popular campus gathering spot, The Pit.


13 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 13 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments.

Latest Comments
My thoughts and prayers are with Eve's family and friends. There can be nothing anymore horrific than the loss of a child. People we must stand firm and push our lawmakers to reinstate the death penalty in our state and the nation. Until these lowlifes know beyond a shadow of doubt that they will pay with their own life for taking the life of another, this carnage will not stop.

hkypky, your point is well made, however I'm not trying to compare the circumstances of her death with a state sanctioned execution. While your point is well made the post immediately after yours is the source of my concern. THis lynch mob mentality that often shows up here isn't about justice - however you define that word - but about anger and revenge, and while I respect your thoughts on this, I just think all killing out of anger and a need for vengeance hurts everyone's dignity. Incidentally, it would be unsafe to assume I am adamnatly anti DP based on this comment. But I just think it is much more complex than many people want to make it.

Please Please find out what happen and take this person or persons down! Give the family and community some peace! I can't imagine what the parents are going through but they need to know whoever was involved in this is brought to justice quickly! So again, please figure out what happened and get them off the streets!

Such a horrific story. A beautiful girl and beautiful life who gave so much of herself from what I've read. I do not know her, but whoever the ANIMAL is that done this should not be given a prison cell as a new home, but an ELECTRIC CHAIR. A needle would be too easy.

North Carolina.....this ANIMAL must be removed from this earth.

yachtman: I don't agree with comparing the murder of this innocent girl with her murderer(s) getting the death penalty. Respect for human life can only be granted to those who first respect life.

I agree with jetset and others that would like to see those responsible for this tragedy pay the ultimate price for what they did.

View Comments VIEW ALL 13 COMMENTS