Man charged with murders of two missing N.C. women
MITCHELL COUNTY, N.C. - A day after human remains were found off a highway, a man was charged with the murders of two missing North Carolina women, CBS affiliate WJHL reports.
Cecil Scott Byrd, 41, was charged Thursday by the Mitchell County Sheriff's Office with murder in the deaths of Lisa Ann Robbins, 49, and Sarah Denise Riddle, 45. He was arraigned shortly after noon Thursday, according to the station.
Robbins went missing from her home near Bakersville on Oct. 23. Riddle was reported missing Nov. 1 in McDowell County, the station reported based on information from authorities.
They got a tip on Wednesday about human remains on the side of Highway 226, just over the border from Tennessee and close to the area from which Robbins disappeared.
Byrd, who was already a person of interest in the Robbins case, was arrested during a traffic stop the same day.
"We had received information yesterday that he may be at a place in Marion trying to get a ride," Street said. "We were able to stop the vehicle that he was in...and we were able to get him out of the vehicle and place him under arrest at that time.
Investigators have not positively identified the remains found Wednesday. On Thursday they were at a former house of Byrd's in Bakersville, digging in dirt around the home, the station reports.
Byrd may have known one or both of his alleged victims, according to WJHL.