Third person charged with concealing death of man found in eastern Rowan County

Published 1:44 pm Monday, May 9, 2022

Staff report:

SALISBURY — A third person has been charged with hiding the death of a man whose body was dumped near High Rock Lake after he overdosed.

Suzy Ellen Moody, 37, was charged by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office Friday with intending to conceal the death of Rodney Craig Edwards by failing to notify a law enforcement agency of his demise. Moody was arrested on the charges at at Novant Health Rowan Medical Center.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office started investigating the incident after Edwards’ body was discovered near File Road on April 2. The warrant for Moody’s arrest is dated April 20 after she was said to be the last person Edwards had been with before his death, but she wasn’t the only one who deputies say was involved with the crime.

Jonathan Paul Holshouser, 39, and Bobbi Jo Rowland, 40, were charged last month with concealment of death for allegedly moving Edwards’ body after he died of an overdose in their presence in his home on Hartley Road. Investigators said the two removed his body from the home and drove it to a remote area near the lake to dispose of it in an overgrown ditch.

Jonathan Paul Holshouser (left) and Bobbi Jo Rowland.

Concealment of death is just one of the charges Moody now faces. The Sheriff’s Office also charged her with possession with intent to sell or distribute cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. According to the arrest warrant, Moody was in possession of two cardboard bundles containing less than one gram of crack cocaine each, a small cellophane bag containing less than one gram of crack cocaine and two individual crack rocks.

The list doesn’t end there.

Additionally, Moody was charged with driving while license revoked, texting while driving and failing to maintain lane control. She was also charged with failure to appear for shoplifting concealment of goods.

Moody was issued a $36,000 bond and booked in the Rowan County Detention Center.

About Ben Stansell

Ben Stansell covers business, county government and more for the Salisbury Post. He joined the staff in August 2020 after graduating from the University of Alabama. Email him at ben.stansell@salisburypost.com.

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