14 replies to this topic

[Jenn]

http://www.charleypr...rham_joyce.html

Joyce Durham



Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: June 17, 2007 from Rocky Mount, NC
Classification: Endangered Missing
Age: 46 years old
Height and Weight: 5'2, 118 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: African-American female.  Black hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Durham was last seen in the 1500 block of Harper Street in Rocky Mount, NC at 2:30 p.m. on June 17, 2007.  She has never been heard from again.  Durham is one of eight women who have disappeared from Rocky Mount since 2005.  Six of them were found murdered in rural areas east of the city along with one unidentified woman; their homicides remain unsolved.  Durham and one other,  Yolanda Lancaster, remain missing.  All victims were African-American and all of them had a history of drug or alcohol abuse and prostitution.

In August 2009 a suspect, Antwan Maurice Pittman, was charged with murdering one of the women, Taraha Senice Nicholson.  Authorities haven't said whether he is a suspect in any of the other murders or disappearances, but he did live very close to where the victims' bodies were found.  Durham's disappearance remains unsolved.

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the Rocky Mount Police Department at 252-972-1411.

[Jenn]

http://www.ncwanted..../story/5663302/

FBI To Join Edgecombe Bodies Probe

From WRAL.com Posted: Jul. 27, 2009 Updated: Jul. 27, 2009

EDGECOMBE COUNTY — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is joining the probe into the discovery of remains of five missing Rocky Mount women in the same rural area of Edgecombe County.

"It is methodically going through tips and information that we hope will lead us to the right person,” Rocky Mount Police Chief John Manley said Sunday of the investigation.

The remains of Jarniece Latonya Hargrove, 31, and Jackie Nikelia Thorpe, 35, were found in a field on Seven Bridges Road between Battleboro and Whitakers. Hargrove, who was reported missing in May, was discovered last month; Thorpe, reported missing in May 2007, was discovered three months later.

Ernestine Battle, 50; Melody LaShae Wiggins, 29; and Taraha Shenice Nicholson, 28; were also found in the same area.

A sixth body discovered in February has yet to be identified, and three other missing women with similar descriptions and backgrounds – Christine Marie Boone, Renee Joyce Durham and Yolanda Renee Lancaster – remain missing.

To help raise money for a series of billboards about the unsolved slayings, 35 people took part in a bike ride Sunday. The bikers rode through the streets of Edgecombe County, and past the rural area where some of the women's bodies were discovered.

"It was somebody's daughter, somebody's sister, somebody's mother. So it could be you, and you would want someone to help you out," biker Terrance Dickens said.

Family members of the some of the victims recently organized the group MOMS – Missing or Murdered Sisters. It aims to draw attention to the unsolved cases.

"It's so hard, God knows it is. I stay in prayer. That's what keeps me going,” said Diana Nicholson, mother of victim – Taraha Shenice Nicholson.

Money raised Sunday by the bike ride will join funds for billboards gathered last weekend by MOMS. The group has raised $816 of the $1,300 needed for the billboards. To donate, people can make a check payable to MOMS at any Wachovia banking branch.

Meanwhile, the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office, Rocky Mount Police Department and State Bureau of Investigation are part of a task force looking into the slain women cases. The Edgecombe County District Attorney's Office is also lending support to investigators, and the FBI plans to join the probe this week, Manley said.

Anyone with information about the cases is asked to call the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office at 252-641-7911.

[Jenn]

http://www.newsobser...sing-woman.html

Remains are those of missing woman

Sat, Mar 13, 2010 12:53 AM

Skeletal remains found a week ago in a wooded area in Scotland Neck have been identified as a Rocky Mount woman missing for nearly four years.

Christine Marie Boone, 43, was last seen Aug. 25, 2006, in Rocky Mount by a family member. Law enforcement officials recovered her remains in a wooded area behind a vacant mobile home at 98 Nasturtium Lane, Scotland Neck, and her identity was confirmed by the Greenville medical examiner.

Antwan Maurice Pittman lived in that mobile home in 2006, according to a Rocky Mount Police Department news release. But, on Friday, Pittman had not been charged with Boone's death.

Pittman is currently being held at the Edgecombe County jail, arrested in September and charged with the strangulation death of Taraha Shenice Nicholson, 28, one of six homicides dating back to 2005. Boone is the seventh.

All of the victims were black women, most with troubled pasts of drug abuse and prostitution.

Five of the bodies were recovered from a swampy, wooded area in rural Edgecombe County, about 60 miles northeast of Raleigh. The sixth woman's body was discovered about seven miles from where the others were found.

A task force of local, state and federal law enforcement officials was formed last June to investigate the possibility of a serial killer.

Two women who fit the profile of those slain remain missing.

Joyce Renee Durham, 46, was reported missing in June 2007. Yolanda Renee "Snap" Lancaster, 37, was reported missing in March 2008.

Anyone with information about Boone's death should contact Halifax County Sheriff Jeff Frazier or Major Bruce Temple at 252-583-8201. Callers also may contact Twin County Crime Stoppers at 252-977-1111 or the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office at 252-641-7911.

[Jenn]

http://www.wral.com/.../story/7319315/


Related Items


Video Video

    * Man says he found bracelet with remains
    * Missing woman’s family on edge after discovery
    * Sky 5 video: Skeletal remains discovered in Edgecombe County

Related Links Related Links

    * WRAL.com archive: Rocky Mount women's deaths

Related Stories Related Stories

    * Help still needed in Rocky Mount women's deaths
    * Warrant links murder suspect to deaths of Rocky Mount women

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Investigators try to identify human remains found

Posted: 11:51 p.m. yesterday Updated: 1:01 a.m. today

Battleboro, N.C. — Investigators say it could take a week to identify skeletal remains found Saturday in an Edgecombe County area where the bodies of other Rocky Mount women were discovered.

Ryan Page said he discovered the human remains around 1:23 p.m. off Seven Bridges Rood, between Battleboro and Whitakers.

“A few of the bones were lying around here,” Page said Sunday while revisiting the area. “It was kind of crazy seeing something like that out here."

Within a 10-mile radius of that same area, the bodies of Taraha Nicholson, 29, Jarneice Hargrove, 31, Jackie Thorpe, 35, Ernestine Battle, 50, and Melody Wiggins, 29, were found over the past four years.

“It was a nice area out here, and it's kind of been ruined by all the bodies being dumped out here,” Ryan said.

Each slain woman was black, reported missing and had a history of drug use or prostitution. Family members and friends have said that many knew each other.

A special task force of local, state and federal authorities has been investigating the deaths, as well as the discovery of Christine Boone's body. The 43-year-old woman was found this month about 20 miles away in Scotland Neck.

Two other women, Yolanda Lancaster and Joyce Durham, are also missing from the area.

The missing women's families were notified Saturday about the discovery of the remains.

“The first thing that hit my mind was Lord, please don't let it be my baby,” said Juray Tucker, Lancaster's mother.

Lancaster has been missing since February 2009. Authorities said both missing women have similar profiles as the other Rocky Mount women and that they are considering a possible connection.

Page said he also found a bracelet beside the human remains Saturday. Tucker said investigators had her look at the bracelet, but she didn't recognize it.

She said she hopes the remains found Saturday do not belong to her daughter.

“That she's still alive. I keep that hope. I won't lose that hope,” Tucker said.

Authorities have charged Antwan Maurice Pittman, 31, with first-degree murder in Nicholson’s death. But they have been relatively quiet about whether he might be suspected in any of the other deaths.

Records show Pittman also once lived near a wooded area off Seven Bridges Road where remains of three of the slain women were found.

A North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper also arrested Pittman for driving while impaired and driving with a revoked license after finding him along Seven Bridges Road on April 25, 2009 – that same day family members last reported seeing Hargrove, according to the warrant.

Hargrove's remains were found on June 29, 2009, about 200 yards from where the trooper said Pittman was parked.

Thorpe's remains were found Aug. 17, 2007, in the same area along Seven Bridges Road. She had been reported missing in May 2007.

Battle's remains were found in the same area on March 14, 2008. She had been missing since February 2008.

Anyone with information about the slain women or the human remains found Saturday is asked to call the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office at 252-641-7911 or Rocky Mount Crime Stoppers at 252-977-1111.

[Jenn]

http://abclocal.go.c...ocal&id=7355074

Local M.O.M. group reacts to body discovery

Monday, March 29, 2010

ROCKY MOUNT (WTVD) -- Skeletal remains were found Saturday in an area where several other bodies have been discovered.

It's not clear if the latest find is connected to a rash of murders in Edgecombe County, but it does have similarities to the other crimes.

Those who are close to the case were vocal about their dismay, Sunday night.

When the group Missing or Murdered Sisters heard about the latest discovery, they were anxious, wondering who the person might be.

The group of women also wondered if the remains belonged to one of two women still missing - or if they were part of a string of murders in Edgecombe County.

"I got the call and I went down there," Mom Patricia Martin said. "All the people were going."

Martin says she found out about the discovery hours after sheriff's deputies recovered skeletal remains in a wooded area off Seven Bridges Road.

Police say people who were four-wheeling found remains about 20 yards into the woods.

It's the same area where several other bodies were found and may be part of a rash of murders involving women of similar description and background.

Martin is part of the group MOMS. It was started after the rash of murders and is dedicated to finding two women still missing.

They don't know whose remains were found.

"Hopefully there will be closure to one of the family members and we're just puzzled about exactly what's going on right now," Martin said.

The bodies' of six women have already been found.

The bodies of Taraha Nicholson, Jarneice Hargrove, Jackie Thorpe, Melody Wiggins and Ernestine battle were all found nearby in Edgecombe County.

Christine Boone was found recently in Scotland neck near the former home of Antwon Pittman.

He has been charged with murdering one of the women but a search warrant says there is now probable cause to believe Pittman is responsible for killing possibly five women altogether.

The Edgecombe County sheriff says the families of missing people in Rocky Mount have been notified of the latest find.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.rockymoun...east-week-18037
Identifying remains could take days
By Mike Hixenbaugh
Rocky Mount Telegram
Monday, March 29, 2010

It could take a week or longer for forensic pathologists at East Carolina University to identify the latest set of human remains found in rural Edgecombe County.

A man riding a four-wheeler discovered the body Saturday afternoon while traveling through a wooded area along Seven Bridges Road, a few miles northeast of Rocky Mount.

The skeleton is the fifth set of remains found along the rural road in recent years and the 10th body found in similar circumstances since 2003.

Eight of the known victims were black women from East Rocky Mount. Investigators are comparing the remains found Saturday against the medical records of two other missing Rocky Mount women whose backgrounds match the victims.

“We hope we’ll know something soon,” Edgecombe County Sheriff James Knight said.

Antwan Maurice Pittman, 31, has been charged in one of the murders, and authorities say they have reason to believe he may be responsible for at least four others.

Juray Tucker’s daughter, Yolanda “Snap” Lancaster, is one of two missing Rocky Mount women who authorities think might be tied to the case. Tucker said she’s praying the body found Saturday isn’t her daughter’s.

“I’m hopeful it’s not her,” Tucker said. “I have to be. I just can’t let my mind wonder that way.”

Lancaster has been missing for about 13 months. Investigators said they think the remains found Saturday had been in the elements for at least a year, maybe longer.

Investigators also found a woman’s watch near the remains, Tucker said, and authorities asked her Sunday if she recognized it.

“I hadn’t seen it before,” Tucker said. “That’s a good sign I hope.”

In September, a search team with the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office helped Edgecombe County deputies canvass land off Seven Bridges Road near where some of the bodies were found.

The search crews combed through the woods nearby where the most recent body was found, but the team was focused on the opposite side of the road.

“We hadn’t searched that particular spot,” Knight said. “We were trying to follow a basic pattern of where the other bodies were found. We thought there might have been a pattern.”

Seven Bridges Road stretches about 12 miles. Knight said further searches of the area are likely.

The discovery Saturday came a few weeks after deputies with the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office found the body of 43-year-old Christine Boone in a wooded area behind a mobile home in Scotland Neck where Pittman once lived, about 45 minutes away from where the other bodies have been found.

Boone was one of the missing Rocky Mount women linked to the case.

Authorities arrested Pittman, 31, in September and charged him in the murder of Taraha Nicholson, one of the slain women found dead in March 2009. Pittman’s DNA was found on Nicholson’s body.

Pittman only has been charged in Nicholson’s murder, but authorities have reason to believe — based on proximity and other circumstantial clues — he might have been responsible for at least four of the other deaths, according to search warrants filed in Halifax County this month.

Authorities also are searching for 46-year-old Joyce Renee Durham, who went missing from East Rocky Mount in 2007.

Talk of a serial killer stalking Rocky Mount women has swirled through the city much of the past year.

In June, authorities revealed that a state and local task force, led by Knight, had been investigating possible connections between the unsolved deaths of Jarniece Hargrove, 31, Elizabeth Smallwood, 33, Nicholson, 28, Ernestine Battle, 50, Jackie Thorpe, 35, Melody Wiggins, 29, and Denise Williams, 21.

The FBI joined the investigation in July.

All of the women were black and involved in drug use and prostitution, according to family members and friends. Most of the victims knew one another.

Some in the community have called for the 2005 death of Travis Raregus Harrison — a 25-year-old crossdresser found naked in a field off East Virginia Street — to be included in the multi-agency probe.

All of the victims were found mostly naked in remote locations, and at least a couple had been strangled, according to autopsies.

Pittman is being held at Central Prison in Raleigh.

[Jenn]

http://abclocal.go.c...ocal&id=7360524

Seventh body found in Edgecombe identified

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

ROCKY MOUNT, NC (WTVD) -- Police say skeletal remains found March 27 have been identified as 40-year-old Roberta Williams. She's now the seventh woman whose body was found dumped in the Edgecombe/Halifax County area in the last four years.

People riding four wheelers off Seven Bridges Road, between Battleboro and Whitakers in Edgecombe County found Williams about 20 yards inside a tree line. It's the same roughly 10-mile wide area where the bodies of several Rocky Mount women were found.

The Rocky Mount Police Department and Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office said in a joint news release that the Medical Examiner's Office in Greenville, NC identified Williams, but was not able to immediately provide a cause of death.

Williams was last seen in the spring of 2008 by a family member in Rocky Mount. She was never reported missing because she was considered to be a homeless person.

Other deaths

Williams is the seventh woman found in the same area about an hour's drive east of Raleigh. The bodies of Ernestine Battle, 50, Jarniece Hargrove, 31, Taraha Nicholson, 29, Jackie Thorpe, 35, and Melody Wiggins, 29, have all been discovered over the past four years in Edgecombe County.

A special task force of local, state and federal investigators has been looking into those deaths as well as the death of Christine Boone, 43, who was found about 20 miles away near a mobile home in Scotland Neck, Halifax County.

Man charged in one death

In September 2009, the task force arrested 31-year-old Antwan Maurice Pittman in the killing of Taraha Shenice Nicholson. Her body was discovered in March, 2009 near Marriot Farm Road a few miles north of Rocky Mount. The medical examiner said she'd most likely been strangled.

Documents in the case said DNA taken from Nicholson's body matched Pittman.

Pittman currently remains in the Edgecombe County Detention Center charged with first-degree murder.

Pittman has a criminal record. According to the North Carolina sex offender registry, he was convicted in 1994 of taking indecent liberties with a 2-year-old. He was released from prison in April 1997. He was also once charged with loitering for prostitution.

Pittman linked to other deaths

Earlier this month, a search warrant released in the investigation linked Pittman to four other deaths. The document authorized homicide investigators to look for evidence at a Halifax County mobile home where he once lived.

It was near that home that investigators found the body of Christine Boone earlier this month. The search warrant indicated that investigators believe Pittman may have killed Boone in the mobile home.

The warrant also said a NC Highway Patrol trooper found Pittman asleep in a car on the day Jarniece Hargrove disappeared about 200 yards away from where her body was discovered about a month later.

Women all had similar backgrounds

Police say all of the dead women had a history of drug abuse and prostitution in the Rocky Mount area. That was also the case in the latest body found. Roberta Williams was charged with prostitution in December 2006.

Two more missing

Police say there are still two more women from the Rocky Mount area who are missing in similar circumstances. Yolanda Lancaster, 37, and Joyce Renee Durham, 46, have not been heard from by their families for months.

[Jenn]

http://www.wral.com/.../story/7366999/

National Guard to search for missing Rocky Mount women
Rocky Mount deaths as of March 31, 2010

Posted: 39 minutes ago Updated: 3 minutes ago

Rocky Mount, N.C. — Gov. Bev Perdue called on the North Carolina National Guard Tuesday to help a special task force search for two missing women who are part of a larger investigation in Rocky Mount.

The action comes at the request of Edgecombe Sheriff James Knight, according to the governor's office.

About 100 soldiers with the National Guard will search around Seven Bridges road near Whitakers, where the remains of five women have been found since August 2007.

The special task force of local, state and federal authorities will be searching throughout the week.

“Having more boots on the ground will help law enforcement agencies cover a larger area and speed up search efforts,” Perdue said.

In all, the remains of eight women have been found over the past four years – seven in rural Edgecombe County and one in Halifax County.

Each was black, had a history of drugs or prostitution and had disappeared. Family members and friends have said that some of the women knew each other.

The most recent discovery came March 27, when investigators recovered the skeletal remains of Roberta Williams, 40, approximately 20 yards inside a wooded area off Seven Bridges Road. Williams was never reported missing but was last seen in spring 2008.

Yolanda Renee Lancaster, 37, and Joyce Renee Durham, 47, remain missing. Lancaster was last seen Feb. 5, 2009; Durham was last seen in June 2007.

Authorities have arrested Antwan Maurice Pittman in one of the cases, and a search warrant returned last month in Halifax County indicates that investigators are looking at him in at least four of the cases.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.rockymoun...ce/missing.html

Name: Joyce Renee Durham
Classification: Involuntary/Undetermined Missing Adult
Alias / Nickname: N/A
Date of Birth: 070561
Date Missing: 080907
From City/State: Rocky Mount, NC
Missing From (Country): USA
Age at Time of Disappearance: 46
Gender: Female
Race: Black
Height: 5 ft. 2 inches
Weight: 118 pounds
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Complexion: Medium
Identifying Characteristics: None.

Circumstances of Disappearance: Unknown. Joyce was last seen at approximately 2:30 p.m. on 6/17/07 leaving from 1505 Harper Street.
Investigative Agency: Rocky Mount Police Department
Phone: (252) 972-1411
Investigative Case #: 2007008994
NCIC #: M-346741153

[Jenn]

NamUs Profile for Joyce: https://www.findthem....org/cases/4808

[Lori Davis]

http://www.rockymoun...killings-238289

Deputies investigate discovery of human remains, possible links to serial killings

By Brie Handgraaf
Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A hunter found human remains Monday in woods a couple miles from Seven Bridges Road, an area where other bodies have been discovered during the past seven years.

According to an Edgecombe County Sheriff’s press release, a hunter looking for deer antlers discovered the remains around 5 p.m. Monday in the woods along Battleboro-Leggett Road near Speights Chapel Road in the Battleboro community.

Sheriff James Knight said details are sparse as the investigation still is in its early stages.

“The remains look like they have been there a while,” he said. “I cannot comment on the conditions of the remains. I can’t really answer any questions right now.”

Rocky Mount Councilman Andre Knight and other city officials were contacted Tuesday morning about the discovery.

Andre Knight said he talked to the families of two women — Yolanda “Snap” Lancaster, 37, and Joyce Renee Durham, 46 — who have been missing for several years and fit the profile of other victims.

“I am just trying to encourage them to stay optimistic right now,” Knight said. “It is tough for them I can imagine, but with the support group (Parents and Relatives of the Missing and Murdered) they are coping.”

Lancaster’s stepfather, Bruce Tucker, said they were notified by deputies about the discovery Monday evening.

“I was shocked,” he said. “We are hoping that is not her and that she is still alive.”

Andre Knight said he believes the remains might be connected to the serial killer case — the bodies of nine women and one man have been found partially clothed and discarded in wooded and swampy fields across three counties since 2003.

“It is in the same geographic area, and I think there is a strong possibility it is connected,” Andre Knight said. “Just looking at the timeline and where most of the bodies have been found in the thicket behind trees, (the remains) fit the description of what the serial killer has done throughout the whole killing spree.”

He said he was hopeful the missing women were still alive, yet hopeful the remains are not that of another unidentified victim.

“I feel there is a possibility there could be more than just the two we know of missing,” he said. “I think we are pretty much prepared for whatever the medical examiner says.”

[Lori Davis]

http://www2.wnct.com...oods-ar-685473/

Hunter finds human remains in Edgecombe County woods
A hunter said he found human remains located in the woods off of Battleboro Leggett Road.
By Alex Freedman
Published: January 11, 2011
Updated: January 11, 2011 - 6:09 PM

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - A hunter spotted human remains in a patch of woods in Edgecombe County Monday. Now, law enforcement says they may have found another body related to case that spans five years and involves eight missing women.

The hunter spotted the bones near the intersection of Battleboro-Leggett and Speights Chapel Road just outside of Rocky Mount.

The Edgecombe County Sherriff called the familes of two women who have been missing for some time. There is speculation that the remains could be one of those women.

Investigators have been out on the scene all day. And though this crime scene matches others involved in the case, they cannot say for sure, if it's connected.

Nonetheless, the families of two of the victims, Yolanda Lancaster and Joyce Durham, have been out at the scene this afternoon.

Lancaster's mother, Juray Tucker, hasn't heard from her daughter for almost two years. She said she'd rather think her daughter is still out there, but not here, "I know it's a possibility, but I'm hoping and praying it's not."

A possibility, they said, that would only bring more pain.

But for Lancaster's stepfather, it's one they need to hear. "Somebody knows something about this.  It's not coming up out of the woods every day, this is something somebody knows about," said Bruce Tucker.

As alex mentioned authorities are still uncertain if the latest discovery of human remains is tied to the string of murders in Edgecombe County.

But it's certainly triggering concerns in the area.

A total of 10 women from rocky mount have disappeared. Eight have turned up dead over the past five years. Eight of them have been found and identified. Three of them in the woods off of Seven Bridges Road, which stretches through the communiteis of Battleboro and Whitakers.

Many of the victims have been linked to drug and prostitution crimes.

Authorities have charged Antwan Pittman in one of the deaths. He's also been named as a person of interest in at least five others.
   
The missing women have prompted a joint investigation by Rocky Mount Police, Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office, as well as state and federal agencies.

[Jenn]

http://www.wral.com/.../story/8918946/

Human remains found in Edgecombe County

Posted: 10:38 a.m. yesterday Updated: 9:34 p.m. yesterday  * Reporter: Mike Charbonnea * Web Editor: Kelly Gardner

Tarboro, N.C. — Edgecombe County authorities have notified the families of two missing Rocky Mount women after a set of human remains was found in a rural part of the county on Monday, the sheriff said Tuesday.

Sheriff James Knight said Tuesday that hunters searching for deer antlers found the body off a path in some woods off Battleboro-Leggett Road near Speights Chapel Road shortly before 5 p.m. and called authorities.

Knight said the remains have not yet been identified and that it was unclear how long they had been in the woods.

The remains were found just outside the search grid where the North Carolina National Guard spent two days in April helping authorities search for Yolanda Renee Lancaster, 37, and Joyce Renee Durham, 49.

Lancaster, who has been missing since February 2009, and Durham, last seen in June 2007, are among a group of 10 women whose disappearances are the subject of an investigation by a special task force to see if the disappearances are related.

Over the past five years, eight have turned up dead. The remains of many have been found along Seven Bridges Road, a 13-mile country road between the rural Edgecombe communities of Battleboro and Whitakers.

Battleboro-Leggett Road is in the vicinity.

“It’s similar,” Knight said Tuesday of the remains found. “The M.O. is similar to the ones we’ve been investigating in this area.”

All of the women share similar backgrounds and physical appearances, and many frequented Holly Street in Rocky Mount, an area known for drug activity and prostitution. Many of the women knew each other, their families have said.

Authorities charged Antwan Maurice Pittman in September 2009 in one of the deaths and have since named him as a suspect or person of interest in at least five others.

Family members of Lancaster and Durham say this is the third time within the past year that they have been notified about remains that could be their daughters.

“Can’t nobody understand how hard it is to keep going through this over and over,” Lancaster’s mother, Juray Tucker, said Tuesday.

“We just put our faith and hope in God’s hands,” Durham’s stepfather, Winston Kemp, said.

In August, Tucker said she has tried to remain hopeful, even though she knows there is little likelihood that her daughter will be found alive.

“As long as it has been with no word from her, I have to be realistic that there’s a possibility that it can go another way. I’m trying to prepare myself for that. I know you can’t, but I‘ve got to be real. I've got to be real," she said.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.wral.com/.../story/8954232/

Hope dwindles for last of missing Rocky Mount women

Posted: 01/17/2011 at 6:31 p.m. today
 
Tarboro, N.C. — The discovery last week of the remains of Yolanda Renee Lancaster in some rural Edgecombe County woods brought a brief moment of relief, then a sinking feeling to Winston Kemp.

For years, he’s thought about what has become of his stepdaughter, Joyce Renee Durham, having often gone online, searching for her name and wondering if she’s out there somewhere.

“I felt, before, there was a chance that she’s still alive, wandering around somewhere,” Kemp said Monday. “Now, (finding Lancaster) gives me doubt about Joyce being alive. It’s a hard pill to swallow.”

Durham, who disappeared in June 2007, and Lancaster were the last of 10 women who investigators believe could be connected to a suspected serial killer.

Authorities arrested Antwan Pittman in September 2009 and charged him in one death. Investigators say he is a suspect or person of interest in many of the other cases.

Although she hasn’t been found, Durham matches the physical description of the other women and shares a similar background. Most of their bodies were found in the same vicinity in Edgecombe County.

In April, the North Carolina National Guard helped search for Lancaster and Durham along a stretch of Seven Bridges Road between the Edgecombe communities of Battleboro and Whitakers after someone discovered the remains of another woman in the area.

The search turned up nothing, and for nearly a year since then, Kemp had to face the reality that his stepdaughter was dead three times when skeletal remains were found in the area.

Last Monday, hunters found what turned out to be Lancaster off a wooded path several miles away on Battleboro-Leggett Road in Edgecombe County. It’s unclear how long they had been there.

“It was just a little relief,” Kemp said. “It’s like you build yourself up to a point where you’re like, ‘OK, maybe she is still alive. Maybe she is still roaming around.’ Then you find out there’s another body. Your hope sort of dies.”

Kemp says authorities tell him the discovery of Lancaster will likely trigger a new search for Durham.

“They are going to keep on with their search and probably extend beyond where they started,” he said.

For now, Kemp, who lives with Durham’s daughter – a new mother herself – relies on the family members of the nine other women for support.

Still, he says, it’s different now, being the only one out of the group not knowing.

“It’s a lonely feeling,” he said.

[Lori Davis]

http://abc11.com/archive/8367069/

 

JURY SELECTION BEGINS IN PITTMAN MURDER TRIAL

Antwan Pittman in court

August 15, 2013 4:35:45 AM PDT

 

TARBORO, N.C. -- Family members and friends of nine women who went missing over a period of several years were on hand Monday morning as jury selection got underway in the trial of a man accused of murder.

 

Of those nine women, eight have been found dead, and one - Joyce Renee Durham - remains missing.

 

Antwan Pittman is charged with first degree murder in the strangulation death of 28-year-old Taraha Nicholson, though many believe he had something to do with the other deaths as well.

 

It is an Edgecombe County case, but the trial was moved to Windsor in Bertie County because of pre-trial publicity.

 

Early on in the jury selection process, news coverage of the case was an issue for at least three potential jurors. The judge dismissed one person who said they had already been influenced by news coverage.

 

Twelve jurors were seated - five men, seven women.

 

The trial is expected to last up to two weeks.

 

Multiple witnesses are expected to be called, including the victim's mother, Diana Nicholson.

 

On Saturday, members of PROMM - the Parents and Relatives of the Missing and Murdered - gathered in front of the Edgecombe County courthouse to mark two years since Pittman's incarceration.

 

At times, emotions ran high as those in attendance remembered their loved ones.

 

"We miss you Jarnice, and we miss the other ones," cried Patsy Hargrove, mother of victim Jarnice Hargrove. "We will always love you, we will always love you."

 

"They have enough evidence for one death," said Jackie Wiggins, president of PROMM and mother of victim Jackie Thorpe. "So from that one, if justice can be brought, I feel like my other members of the group, other victim's families, can get that much closure as well."

 

Some family members say the start of the trial comes as a relief, even as uncertainty reigns.

 

"Not knowing whether she's still alive...I think that goes on constantly," said Winston Kemp, step-father of Joyce Durham.

 

Absent from the gathering were members of the law enforcement community. It was taken note of by Rocky Mount city councilman Andre Knight, who has led the effort to classify the remaining unsolved cases as high priority.

 

"We keep hope alive that justice will come to this community and to our families," Knight said.