State News

FBI investigating homicide after woman's body found near Blue Ridge Parkway

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said the investigation involving a dead woman near an inn in western North Carolina is now a homicide.

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Pisgah National Forest
CANTON, N.C. — The FBI said Wednesday that it is investigating the death of a woman near an inn in western North Carolina as a homicide.

FBI spokeswoman Shelley Lynch told area news outlets the general manager of the Pisgah Inn called Blue Ridge Parkway dispatch Tuesday to report a missing female employee.

National Park Service rangers joined local rescue crews in a search, and searchers found the body of 29-year-old Sara Ellis near a path connecting the inn to the inn's employee housing around 10:30 p.m.

Ellis was employed as a pantry cook by the inn since May. She was from Seminole, Fla.

The cause of death has not yet been determined.

Because the incident occurred on federal property, the FBI is taking the lead in the investigation with help from the National Park Service and the State Bureau of Investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call 704-672-6100.

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