The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

October 29, 2009

Memorial service for murder victim

T. J. ROYAL

A funeral home owner said its her "human" feelings that made her want to host a memorial today for Elizabeth Jane Smallwood, whose remains were found in February.

Carolyn Whitehead Hart, director of Whitehead Funeral & Cremation Service in Rocky Mount, will hold the memorial for Smallwood at 6 p.m. today at 2129 Lawrence Circle. Smallwood's death is being investigated along with those of five other women whose bodies have been found in Edgecombe County since May 2005.

The other deceased women are: Jarniece Latonya "Sunshine" Hargrove, 31, whose body was found June 29 on Seven Bridges Road; Taraha Shenice Nicholson, 28, whose remains were found on March 7 in the woods off Marriott Road; Ernestine Battle, 50, who was found dead March 13, 2008 near Seven Bridges and Wells roads; Jackie Nikelia Thorpe, 35, found dead Aug. 17, 2007 on Seven Bridges Road; and 29-year-old Melody Wiggins, whose remains were found May 29, 2005 off Old Farm Road, south of U.S. 64.

Each of the deceased women had criminal records, with prostitution and drug-related offenses.

"We all have made some bad decisions" in life, Hart said about the women's history. But she added that, regardless of her background, Smallwood "really needs a decent funeral," a belief Hart feels strongly enough about to provide the service for free. Two years ago, Hart said she handled the arrangements for Jackie Thorpe's funeral, also free-of-charge.

Smallwood's remains were found Feb. 13 in a wooded area off Melton Drive in Rocky Mount. They were not positively identified until Oct. 12, after Rocky Mount Police Capt. Laura Fahnestock said police followed leads. After she was identified as the victim, the Triad Cremation Society, based in Greensboro, cremated Smallwood's remains.

Out of the deceased women involved in the investigation, Smallwood was the only one who had not been reported missing. "She had not been seen in the community" for a while, Fahnestock said, and those circumstances, along with examining her medical records, helped lead police to positively identify the remains as Smallwood.

Police also had a "very difficult time" getting in touch with the deceased woman's family, Fahnestock said. A copy of the 33-year-old woman's death certificate said she was born in Fayette County, Ken., to Robert and Linda Smallwood.

Police found that Smallwood's mother was recently deceased, but that her father is currently living in Concord, Ga., near Atlanta. A call to the Georgia residence was not returned.

Hart said that Smallwood's family would not likely attend today's memorial service, but added that they planned to be in the area early next month.

Smallwood's cause of death has not yet been determined, and Fahnestock emphasized it can not be determined at this point. Still, "we look at any possible links to the big picture," anything that could coincide with the other five deceased woman, the captain said.

"We will not give up on these investigations. We work on them every single day," even if an announcement isn't made on them each day, she added.

A joint effort has been underway since July in the investigation of the women's deaths, a task force headed by the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office and involving the FBI, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and Rocky Mount Police.

A convicted sex offender, 31-year-old Antwan Maurice Pittman, was charged with first-degree murder in Nicholson's death in September, the only arrest made so far in the investigation.

Edgecombe County Sheriff James Knight said the death of Denise Williams, 21, whose body was found in the Cokey Swamp area in 2003, also is being investigated as possibly connected to the other deaths.

Authorities are also looking for three other Rocky Mount women who have been reported missing: Yolanda “Snap” Lancaster, 37; Joyce Renee Durham, 46; and Christine Marie Boone, 43.

Anyone with information about any of the cases is asked to call the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office, at 641-7911, or Twin Counties Crime Stoppers, at 977-1111.

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