'We need his body:' Sister upset missing man was not found during search of Cape Fear River
Family members of alleged murder victim Anthony Fuentes are disappointed after Thursday’s search of the Cape Fear River didn’t produce his body.
Charles Anthony Fuentes, 31, was last seen leaving Izzy’s Sports Bar, at 150 Andrews Road, in the early morning hours of March 3. Grainy security video from outside the bar shows a man believed to be Fuentes leaving with two men in a dark-colored 2007 Lexus with license plate PCE-2228.
Family members said they were told that Fuentes’ body was mutilated and the remains were weighed down before being thrown from a bridge into the Cape Fear River.
The Fayetteville Police Department’s dive team was on the Cape Fear River for several hours Thursday, but family members said Fuentes’ body was not recovered.
“We’ve been knowing about him being thrown in the Cape Fear River for a month now and quietly and silently hoping to hear good news,” Fuentes’ sister, Mayra Christina Fuentes, said. “I just got a phone call today. I was informed by it that today’s search was unsuccessful.”
Mayra Fuentes said she was told that search crews would be back in the river next Tuesday.
Family members said they are frustrated about they have received limited information since March and the information they do get continues to change.
“They at first said they were sure of the exact location and then they said they’re not sure, it’s like the measurement of a football field,” Mayra Fuentes said.
Police considered Mark Allen Verhasselt, 42, and Ryan Dewain Chavis, 23, as persons of interest in the case, but Verhasslet was shot to death in July in Myrtle Beach. At the time, authorities said they didn’t believe his death was connected to Fuentes’ disappearance.
Chavis was arrested last month and charged as an accessory after the fact to murder. He remains in the Cumberland County Jail under $250,000.
Family members said they were told that Fuentes was murdered in an apartment off Ramsey Street before his body was dumped in the river. The family was told that, the day after he was believed to have been killed, the carpet in the apartment was replaced and the walls were painted.
“We know what happened, but I need my brother back. I want his body,” Mayra Fuentes said. “He’s in a better place, but we need his body, that’s the minimum respect he deserves right now.
While police did not find Fuentes’ remains, they told WRAL News that they have collected some evidence connected with the case.
