08/22/12 — Man found slain in Duplin

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Man found slain in Duplin

By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 22, 2012 1:46 PM

WARSAW -- An autopsy was to be performed this morning at the state medical examiner's Jacksonville office on the body of a black man that was found early Tuesday morning lying beside an isolated stretch of road just west of Warsaw.

Sheriff Blake Wallace said the man, who appeared to be in his late 30s, had been shot, and that the death is being investigated as a murder.

The victim has tentatively been identified, but the information will not be released until after the autopsy and the family has been notified, Wallace said.

Duplin County medical examiner Dr. Hervy B. Kornegay Sr. was called to the scene.

"We received a call about 6:45 this (Tuesday) morning that a black male had been found on the side of Carroll's Road close to the intersection of Henry Best Road," Wallace said. "We got there about 6:45. We had a car right in the area and we left (the scene) about 11 a.m."

The body was discovered by a person who was on their way to work, Wallace said.

Wallace said that he could not comment on how many times the man had been shot or how long the body might have been lying along side the road.

He said he would be able to provide more information following the autopsy.

"Now we are pursuing leads and trying to find out who might have contacted him last," he said.

The State Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the investigation, Wallace said.