Woman reported missing found
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on June 21, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
First responders search the fields for clues near where Angel Phillips, a missing woman, was last seen off of N.C. 55 near Old Harvey Sutton Road Monday morning. Footprints found near a creek bed helped rescuers narrow their search to the wooded area pictured.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Angel Phillips, right, is led out of the woods off N.C. 55 Monday morning wearing the shirt of a volunteer firefighter and a plastic sheet after being missing for nearly two days.
A South Carolina woman reported missing near Mount Olive Sunday was found alive Monday morning lying nude under a patch of briars and sticks.
Angel Denise Phillips, 33, of Darlington, S.C., was reported missing by her 15-year-old son after the pair were involved in a wreck on N.C. 55 near Suttontown Road.
Ms. Phillips reportedly sent her son to get water after seeking shelter under an outdoor structure at a church on N.C. 55, and then disappeared by the time the boy returned.
The vehicle was found abandoned in a field off of N.C. 55 near Suttontown Road on Saturday morning.
Authorities say Ms. Phillips left Darlington, S.C., for "personal reasons," and told her girlfriend that she and her son were "heading north" without specifying where they were headed.
"She has no known ties to this area," said Capt. Richard Lewis with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
Maj. Tom Effler with the sheriff's office said authorities suspect Ms. Phillips got lost before wrecking in Mount Olive.
Lawmen said Ms. Phillips is bipolar and attempted to purchase a handgun in South Carolina on Friday, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms flagged the purchase and had it delayed.
When Ms. Phillips was found, she was unarmed and not injured.
Early Monday morning, Ms. Phillips approached a road worker on N.C. 55 West near Smith Chapel Methodist Church holding a sign at 8:52 a.m. and asked for help, and then fled into an open field before bolting into a wooded area. This incident ultimately led to her being found. Authorities do not know why Ms. Phillips was nude when she was found.
A search team of about 20 people was dispatched into a wooded area between N.C. 55 West and Old Harvey Sutton Road just after 11 a.m. Monday morning. Ms. Phillips was found in the wooded area lying under briars and sticks, around 11:30 a.m.
Chris Lane was part of the search team that found Ms. Phillips, and was also the tow truck driver who towed the wrecked car away from the scene on Saturday morning. Lane works for A+ Towing and Recovery.
"We found her because we saw her feet sticking out from the briars," Lane said.
Blood was found on the driver's side of Ms. Phillips' car that Lane towed, and he said the blood came from a cut on Ms. Phillips' finger.
Ms. Phillips' 15-year-old son was picked up from the custody of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office on Sunday by an uncle who lives in South Carolina.
Ms. Phillips was brought out of the woods wearing the shirt of a volunteer firefighter and had a yellow tarp wrapped around her waist.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office Air Watch, the Smith Chapel Volunteer Fire Department, the Arr-Mac Search and Rescue Team and the North Carolina Forestry Service participated in the search for Ms. Phillips.