DURHAM, N.C. — The Wake County Sheriff's Office said Monday it is "not prepared to confirm" that a body found in a suitcase by the shoreline of the Neuse River is that of a pregnant woman reported missing last week.
Raleigh police contacted the Sheriff's Office at 10:40 a.m. EST after a witness reported a body had been found along a section of the Neuse River Trail, near Allen Drive, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Eric Curry.
"It's not every day, it's not every morning that you find what could be a person's body in a suitcase, in a river," Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker told WTVD-TV, The News & Observer's media partner, Monday.
The case is being investigated as a homicide, Curry wrote in a news release.
He declined to provide additional information, including whether the body was that of a man or a woman.
Investigators could not identify the body and will wait for an autopsy by the state medical examiner's office before releasing further details, Curry wrote.
On Sunday, the Sheriff's Office announced it was searching for 28-year-old Brittany Samone Smith, who is pregnant, and was reported missing Thursday, The News & Observer reported. She was last seen in Wendell.
Officials are still gathering evidence, speaking with Smith's family members, who showed up at the scene, and taking other actions, Curry said.
A weekend news release described Smith as 4-foot-11 and 115 pounds.
"We do have persons of interest that we are interested in talking to," Curry said.
The Sheriff's Office asked anyone with information on the case to call (919) 856-6911.
