Woman missing after wreck
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on June 20, 2016 11:58 AM
Wayne County authorities are searching for a woman that was reported missing by her son on Sunday.
Angel Denise Phillips, 33, was reported missing by her 15-year-old son when he told the Wayne County Sheriff's Office he had not seen his mother since Saturday night.
According to the report, Wayne County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to an area near Grantham School Road and N.C. 55 in reference to a suspicious person where they found the juvenile walking along the highway.
The juvenile then told the authorities he had not seen his mother since Saturday night.
He said they were involved in a wreck early Saturday morning on N.C. 55 west of Mount Olive.
Their vehicle was towed around 8:26 a.m. Saturday morning.
Ms. Phillips' son told authorities that they walked away from the wreck and found shelter under a covered outdoor area on a church's property near N.C. 55 for Saturday night. The name of the church is not being released.
The son said his mother sent him to go find water, and when he returned to where they were taking shelter his mother was gone.
Deputies found blood was found in the driver's side of the vehicle, according to the report.
Capt. Richard Lewis with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office said Ms. Phillips' son was picked up from the custody of the sheriff's office Sunday by an uncle and taken back to Darlington, S.C., where Ms. Phillips and her son are originally from.
Lewis said there are no leads on where Ms. Phillips might be located.
"We're asking anyone that might have seen her to call us and tell us if they've seen anything related to the case because right now we don't even have a direction of travel," Lewis said.
According to authorities, Ms. Phillips was last seen wearing a white tank top and green camouflage shorts and was barefoot.
She is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds and has a mohawk haircut.
The family's dog, a brown and white bulldog wearing a red leash, is also missing.
Lewis said authorities searching for Ms. Phillips will be beginning their search today along the section of N.C. 55 where she was last seen by her son but are asking for the public's help to narrow down the area of their search.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office Air Watch, the Smith Chapel Fire Department, the Arr-Mac Search and Rescue Team and the North Carolina Forestry Service are all searching for Ms. Phillips.
If you have any information about Ms. Phillips' whereabouts, or see anything you think is related to Ms. Phillips' disappearance, call the Wayne County Sheriff's Office at 919-731-1481, or call 911.
Detective Mike Tabor is the lead investigator on the case, and can be reached at 919-731-1488 with any information relating to the case.