Edgecombe remains those of missing Rocky Mount woman

Sheriff James Knight said late Friday that the remains were those of Yolanda Renee Lancaster, 37, who has been missing since February 2009.

Hunters found the body Monday afternoon off a path in some woods off Battleboro-Leggett Road near the Battleboro community and called authorities.

Over the past five years, eight other women with similar backgrounds have turned up dead – many along Seven Bridges Road in the same vicinity where Lancaster’s body was found.

Family members couldn’t be reached for comment Friday evening, but Lancaster’s mother, Juray Tucker, has said that she kept hope but knew there was little likelihood that her daughter would be found alive.

Authorities have charged Antwan Maurice Pittman in one of the nine deaths but have identified him as a suspect or person of interest in many of the cases. He was expected to go to trial in May, but the case has been continued indefinitely.

The investigation attracted the attention of Gov. Bev Perdue last April when she ordered the North Carolina National Guard to help search for Lancaster and another woman still missing – Joyce Renee Durham.

“I thought that was awesome,” Tucker said in August. “Even though they didn’t find anything – which was good and a little bit of relief – it was just awesome. My God, they brought out all these people to look for my baby.”