MOCKSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies have found the dismembered body of a missing Davie County woman in a brush pile while searching the house and property belonging to her boyfriend.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported that 56-year-old David Earl Hughes of Mocksville has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 49-year-old Patricia Yvette Swaim. Most of Swaim’s body was found earlier this week in an isolated area near Hughes’ Mocksville home. Police think animals had attacked the remains.
Swaim was last seen by her daughter Feb. 20.
Deputies think she was dismembered after she was killed in an effort to more easily hide the body.
It was unclear if Hughes has an attorney.