A missing Halifax County woman was found murdered Friday evening in a creek near her home, and her AWOL grandson is now charged with her murder, officials said.
Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp said Sallie Evans was found on Highway 903 about a mile from her house. Isaiah Evans Caesar, her 18-year-old grandson, has been charged with her murder.
Family members said Evans was taking Caesar back to Camp Lejeune when she disappeared.
Officials said Caesar was arrested Friday in a Rocky Mount hotel. Tripp said officers found explosive material in the room, but “no bomb was found.”
On Friday, investigators examined Evans’ Roanoke Rapids home for clues as to where the 75-year-old might be.
“I’m very angry because I want to know where she’s at and if she’s OK,” Evans’ son Mitch Evans said Friday afternoon. “As more time goes by you think, you speculate, you pray a lot.”
Evans said Caesar left the Marine Corps base about a month ago, and was given 30 days to return. He also said Caesar was supposed return April 22 to undergo an evaluation.
“He left a disturbing note when he left a month ago. So, the sergeant was concerned from his actions, what he had left behind, and some of the conversations he had with him,” Evans said.
The Halifax Sheriff’s office said Caesar was stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia.
Evans said when his nephew refused to return to the military, Sallie Evans called his sergeant, who said he could undergo the evaluation at Camp Lejeune.
A spokesperson for Camp Lejeune confirmed Caesar is listed as a deserter.
Evans said Sallie wanted her grandson to do what was right, and also to get help. Family members said Caesar and his grandmother were very close, and he would turn to her in times of trouble.
“She said, ‘OK, fine. You’re going back to Jacksonville. I’ll drop you off. You don’t have a choice. You’re going.'”
Neighbor Willie Patterson said Sallie asked him if he would drive her and Caesar to Jacksonville Tuesday at 11 a.m. He said he waited for them for an hour.
“I was looking out my kitchen window waiting on her, and I see the front end of the car. I didn’t see who was driving the car,” said Patterson. “I turned around to go get my glasses, and my hat, and my umbrella and went I went out the front door there was no car. They were gone.”
Both Patterson, and Evans said it’s unusual for Sallie to be gone without telling someone, or asking them to look after her dogs.
Evans’ family told CBS 17 that Caesar spray painted his grandmother’s vehicle black. The car was later recovered at a a Rocky Mount hotel parking lot, where he was arrested.
“Those things are very disturbing because, for someone to take the time and effort to paint a car, to try and conceal it — and this is just my opinion — I’m thinking that person didn’t drop her off somewhere safe,” Evans said.
Caesar is due in court May 16, according to the sheriff.