Tarboro, N.C. — Edgecombe County sheriff's investigators said Friday they are investigating the discovery of a body found in a wooded area off Seven Bridges Road between Whitakers and Battleboro.

The sheriff's office received a call about 1:58 p.m. from a local farmer who said he was taking down an electric fence on the property when he noticed the female body approximately 40 feet inside the wood line.

The woman appeared to be approximately 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 4 inches tall. Sheriff James Knight said investigators were awaiting a cause of death from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Chapel Hill.

Last August, authorities found the body of Jackie Nikelia Thorpe, 35, who was last seen May 8 on Carolina Avenue in Rocky Mount. But a cause of death was never determined.

Neighbors said the location where Thorpe was found was about a half-mile away from the body found Thursday.

Some are concerned the two bodies are not a coincidence.

"I would like to see them determine what has happened in this case and why this is occurring in this area," said one resident who did not want to be identified."

Knight said both cases are being treated as homicides but would not say if they were connected.

He urged anyone who lives nearby to keep an eye on the cars driving in the area and for any suspicious activity.