MONTGOMERY COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV) – Montgomery County Sheriff Pete Herron confirmed the remains of missing Moore County woman Allisha Watts were found Thursday.
“This is not the outcome that we had been hoping for. But by finding Allisha today, it can bring some closure. I hope and I pray it will bring some closure to family and friends moving forward,” Herron said.
About a dozen family members spent Thursday at the Norman Community Cemetery in Montgomery County waiting for deputies to confirm what they found.
BREAKING: Montgomery Co Sheriff’s Office: The remains of 39 y/o Allisha Watts are believed to be found here behind this cemetery.
This is ~70 miles from where she was last seen in CLT July 16th.
Her boyfriend, James Dunmore has been taken into custody & arrested for murder. pic.twitter.com/bUZauYNaE8
— Claire Kopsky (@ClaireMKopsky) August 24, 2023
In a Facebook post, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that James Dunmore, Watts’ boyfriend, has been arrested for murder. Video sent to WBTV showed Dunmore being taken into custody.
“I’m just glad we got our guy, you know what I’m saying,” Tea Hines, Watts’ cousin, said. “I just can’t – I just can’t wait to go to court. You know, I just can’t wait to see what he has to say about this. We shouldn’t even be out here. If he would have just told us … 38 days in now. That’s a long time.”
According to deputies, her body was found behind a cemetery off Cemetery Road in Montgomery County.
“This is weird, is very weird. But hopefully, this is the closure that we’ve been looking for,” Hines said. “I don’t know how he managed to do that by himself. And my head, he had to pretty much have helped because there’s no way that you’re going to take your girlfriend on a date to a cemetery. So I don’t know how he even chose the spot that he chose.”
Watts was last seen July 16 at the northeast Charlotte home of her boyfriend, according to a search warrant.
Her vehicle was later found July 18 at an Anson County DMV. Her boyfriend, whom police list as the sole resident of the Pamela Lorraine Drive home in northeast Charlotte, was inside the vehicle and was the victim of an apparent suicide attempt, the warrant states.
On July 19, Watts’ family filed a missing persons report with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. A week later, CMPD officers looked through the Pamela Lorraine Drive home and a 2007 Audi for any evidence of the crime of murder, according to the search warrant.
“There will be a day of reckoning for this individual that was arrested, so again, this is a very active investigation,” Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said.
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