Two Teens Found Dead in Wooded Area - Sheriff Launches Investigation of 'Horrific Crime'
Two North Carolina teenagers who were reported missing over the weekend have been found dead, according to their families.
Lyric Woods, 14, and Devin Clark, 18, were found Sunday in a wooded area near Hillsborough in Orange County, according to WTVD-TV.
Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said that although no official identification had been made as of Monday, “in the absence of any other missing persons matching the descriptions of the individuals located, the tragic but logical conclusion is increasingly clear,” according to a news release from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
“This loss is devastating for the victims’ families and friends, and indeed for the entire community,” he said. The release noted Woods was reported missing on Saturday and Clark was reported missing the following day.
The bodies of the two dead teens were found Sunday by individuals riding ATVs in the woods, the release said. Both had been shot to death.
“As a parent, I cannot imagine how excruciating the wait for confirmation of the victims’ [identity] is. However, the process is important and critical to lead us to the person or persons responsible for this horrific crime. I’m asking for your patience as we, along with other investigative agencies, do the work necessary to seek justice for the victims and their families,” he said.
Clark’s mother said she wants justice for what was done.
“He never hurt anybody, so for him to get done like this is–I have to have answers,” Tiffany Concepcion said. “I want to get justice and I don’t care where I have to go, what I have to do, who I’ve got to talk to, I’m going to keep going and keep doing it.”
A report from WRAL-TV said family members of the victims say they got in a car with another person before they went missing. The report said Woods was seen riding in a vehicle around 3 a.m. Saturday near a wooded area
“Who is strong enough to carry two bodies and dump them?” Concepcion said. “We want answers.”
A resident of the area near where the bodies were found said he heard shots recently.
“I heard close to 10 shots going off like an automatic gun and paused for a little bit, and five more shots went off,” David White told WTVD. “I thought, ‘who’s shooting this late at night?'”
Police said the two victims were acquainted with each other. Woods attended Cedar Ridge High School and Clark attended Eastern Alamance High School.
“Devin was a former Eagles Football player and will always be remembered as a kind-hearted, gentle giant who was well liked by his classmates,” Les Atkins, the public information officer for the Alamance-Burlington School System, posted on the district’s web site.
On Monday, a moment of silence was held before a soccer game between their schools, according to WTVD.
“This past weekend, Devin Clark an Eastern Alamance student and Lyric Woods a Cedar Ridge student tragically lost their lives,” the public address announcer called out before the game began. “Please keep their families in your thoughts and prayers.”
Clark’s high school held a balloon release for him on Monday, WTVD reported.
A $10,000 reward is being offered by the grandfather of Lyric Woods. Devin Clark was also murdered. If you have any information on these murders, please call 911 or the Orange County Sheriff’s Office at (919) 245-2900. Please share! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/dk0jY9fnBM
— Rose (@901Lulu) September 19, 2022
“It actually made me feel good to know that he touched a lot of people’s lives, that he made an impact on a lot of people. And not only in the school, within the community as well, because people looked up to him as well as him looking up to other people as his coaches and just a man figure in the community,” Crystal Hughes, Clark’s aunt, said, noting that the family has many questions.
“It’s hard for us to process everything that’s going on because we don’t have any details,” Hughes said. “And we really, our lack of information and is just not sitting right with us with the stuff that we’re hearing and all different sides of the story we know, hoping that the police department … investigation is going the way that it’s supposed to go. But it’s hard on us.”
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