By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

The family of a Salisbury woman who went missing on the day she was scheduled to give birth by cesarean section said in a statement Wednesday they “no longer expect a new addition to our family.”

That statement came the day after a Watauga County sheriff’s deputy located Carrie Bradshaw-Crowther in Boone. Drew Bradshaw, her brother, released the statement on behalf of the family.

Bradshaw-Crowther was taken to Watauga Medical Center after being found by authorities. Her brother said in the statement she was “hospitalized and is receiving much needed medical care.”

He said the family “would like to share their sincere appreciation to the overwhelming number of people who so willingly, through kind and caring hearts expended their time, efforts and prayers, to help us locate someone we love dearly.”

“While it is unfortunate, we no longer expect a new addition to our family and ask for your continued prayers,” he said.

Drew Bradshaw declined to say anything further, but said specific details should be released at his sister’s discretion, once she had an “opportunity to heal.”

Bradshaw-Crowther’s picture appeared on local and national news outlets for about a week following pleas from her daughter, Lauren Lusk, for her safe return. Lusk told the Post her mother, 49, was pregnant and scheduled for a C-section the day she disappeared.

Lusk said her mother required a preterm cesarean because of her high-risk pregnancy. She was diagnosed with vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, putting her at risk of rupturing major blood vessels and possibly rupturing her uterus and intestines, making it difficult for her to have a natural birth.

Salisbury Police investigators had been working since June 1 to determine what happened to Bradshaw-Crowther.

The Salisbury native was located by the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office after she used her debit card at a CVS store in Boone. A deputy following an alert spotted the champagne- colored Mazda van Bradshaw-Crowther was driving. Authorities had been looking for the van with expired Kansas plates. However, officials said when law enforcement stopped the van, the Kansas license plate had been replaced with a North Carolina tag.

The deputy pulled Bradshaw-Crowther over, and she immediately told him who she was, a statement said.

“We will forever be thankful for the professionalism shown by the Salisbury Police Department, the officials in Watauga County, the Watauga County hospital personnel, and for the various news agencies that assisted,” Drew Bradshaw said in the statement.

Drew Bradshaw also thanked the staff at LostNMissing Inc., a nonprofit organization that works with families to spread public awareness about missing people.

“Our hearts are now with the many missing persons who are still unaccounted for, and the families who have not been as fortunate in finding their loved ones as we were. We thank God for the wonderful people on social media who connected with us, and who we know will continue to share love and support to those in need,” Drew Bradshaw said.