A pet duck is being credited with helping police solve the murder of a 91-year-old North Carolina woman who disappeared sometime in 2020.
After searching in vain for nearly two years, officials in Buncombe County finally uncovered the body of Nellie Sullivan in mid-April.
Sergeant Mark Walker told WLOS it wasn't a tip that led investigators to Sullivan's remains, but rather a pet duck that ran loose in a trailer park in Candler, about 130 miles west of Charlotte.
"Apparently, the duck ran underneath the trailer at 11 Beady Eyed Lane, and as [the owners] were chasing after their pet duck, they ran across the container that Nellie Sullivan was located in," Walker said.
"If I could give that duck a medal, I would," he added.
Following the discovery, officials filed first-degree murder charges against Sullivan's granddaughter and grandson-in-law, who had been under under investigation in the case.
Angela Wamsley, 46, and Mark Alan Barnes, 50, were initially arrested in 2020 on a variety of charges including animal cruelty and drug possession. In 2021, the charges were updated to include concealing a death and multiple more drug offenses.
A spokesperson for the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office told NBC News that police believe Wamsley and Barnes killed Sullivan at one location and then transported her to where her body was found. After her death, Wamsley and Barnes allegedly continued to collect Sullivan's Social Security and retirement benefits checks and refill her prescriptions, the network reported.
Sullivan's cause of death is still under investigation.
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