Missing woman's vehicle found in Raleigh

Raleigh, N.C. — Human remains and a missing Johnston County woman’s vehicle were found near a Raleigh daycare Friday, Raleigh Police Department spokesman Jim Sughrue said.

A silver Jeep Liberty registered to Kelli Woolard, 31, was found in the parking lot of the Growing Child daycare at 321 Spring Forest Road around 1:40 p.m. A short time later, officers located human remains in a wooded area near the vehicle, Sughrue said.

Woolard, a nurse at Duke Raleigh Hospital, was last seen driving the vehicle on July 11 and remains missing.

Relatives told WRAL News that the remains could be those of Woolard based on what investigators told the family.

"They say the keys to Kelli's car were found in the pocket of the body farther down in wooded area," Woolard's brother, Cliff Frazier, said.

The human remains were being transported to the state medical examiner's office for identification and autopsy. Relatives said investigators have asked for Wollard's dental records to help make a positive ID.

Frazier said Woolard had experienced issues in the past, but her family thought those troubles were behind. Her relatives are wondering if there is anything they could have done to help her.

Family members, including Woolard's husband of two years and their 9-year-old stepson, have gathered to comfort each other.

Frazier said he remembers his sister as loving, kind and giving woman.

"Kelli was one of the few people that really enjoyed helping people," Frazier said. "Part of what made her happy in life was knowing she was enriching the lives of others and that she was helping them."