Found: Police are uncertain how long Miss Watson's SUV was in the woods. It has been taken away for investigation
Police are actively investigating the disappearance of a 30-year-old South Carolina woman whose burned SUV was discovered in a wooded area and whose fiance was found dead inside the couple's home.
Mount Pleasant Police Capt. Stan Gragg told FoxNews.com that the search for Dara Lee Watson is being treated as a missing persons case, but said foul play is being considered.
Watson's burned silver 2006 GMC Envoy was found abandoned in the Francis Marion Forest on Wednesday, police said. The young accountant was reported missing early Friday by her boss when she failed to show up for work, according to local media reports.
Watson's mother, who lives in Boone, N.C., told police that her daughter was last seen Feb. 6 when she left her parents' business in Boone.
Authorities said in a press release that Watson's cell phone was last used around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Her boss also reported receiving a text message from Watson on Wednesday, "stating she was fine," according to police.
Authorities have since suspended their search in the wooded area surrounding Watson's vehicle, but the investigation is "still active," Gragg said.
"We have not ruled out foul play," he said, though he declined to provide further details.
Officers searched Watson's home in Mount Pleasant on Friday and found her fiance, 34-year-old David Hedrick, dead. Police have not released any information on how Hedrick died.
The Charleston Post and Courier reported Monday that Hedrick's bloodied body was found next to a 9-mm. handgun inside the home.
Charleston County Sheriff's Maj. Jim Brady said authorities searched a 4- to 5-mile radius surrounding Watson's burned SUV and that "nothing was found."
"It took us awhile to actually get information on the vehicle," he told FoxNews.com. "It was into the woods enough that you probably wouldn’t have recognized it from the front of the road."
Watson is described as 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighing 127 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is being urged to call the Mount Pleasant Police Department at (843) 884-4176.
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