A body was discovered inside an abandoned car in the 300 block of West College Street in Whiteville around 2 p.m. Friday, according to Police Chief Paul Rockenbach. Officers cordoned off the scene and called in the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to assist, and as of Saturday the identity of the person found inside has not been released.
Rockenbach, who leads the Whiteville Police Department, has not disclosed the deceased person's sex, and the individual's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, according to Columbus County News, which first reported the discovery. The chief also has not said how long the person is believed to have been inside the vehicle before it was found. The case is being handled by the department's Criminal and Narcotics Investigations Unit, per the same report.
State Investigators Called to the Scene
The SBI's involvement follows a well-worn procedural path for unattended deaths in North Carolina. Under North Carolina General Statute 130A-383, any sudden, violent, unattended, or suspicious death must be reported immediately to the county medical examiner, and a body cannot be moved or disturbed without official authorization, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. That legal mandate helps explain why officers held the scene rather than clearing it quickly once the body was discovered.
Founded in 1937, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation maintains eight district offices and routinely provides crime scene analysis, forensic assistance, and technical support to local departments upon request. Once a body is transferred from a local scene, the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner relies on a network of regional autopsy centers and contracted hospital pathology units to establish a cause of death, per the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
A Department Built on Recent Homicide Experience
Rockenbach took over as Whiteville's police chief on March 1, 2025, arriving with experience as a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, a former lead homicide investigator for the Columbus County Sheriff's Office, and a stint as police chief in Northwest, North Carolina, according to background reported by Columbus County News. He also previously served in counterintelligence work with the U.S. Air Force.
The Whiteville Police Department earned its second consecutive four-year CALEA Law Enforcement Accreditation, effective November 15, 2025, a designation recognized nationally as a gold standard for public safety agencies, per the City of Whiteville. Earlier this year, the department also deployed a nine-camera Flock license-plate reader network at the city's boundaries that logs passing vehicles and flags those tied to active investigations — a system Rockenbach has said previously helped locate a homicide suspect, according to Foxy 99.
Second Major Case for WPD and SBI This Year
This is not the first time this year that Whiteville police and the SBI have worked a major death investigation together. The two agencies partnered following the March 11 homicide of 71-year-old Cynthia Hansen inside her North Thompson Street fitness studio, a case that involved joint evidence processing and state reward funds, Columbus County News has reported. Hoodline previously covered state reward money tied to Whiteville case.
Whiteville serves as the county seat and commercial hub of Columbus County in southeastern North Carolina, with a population of 4,766 recorded in the 2020 U.S. Census, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A 2025 North Carolina Department of Public Safety profile found Columbus County's violent crime rate stood at 604 per 100,000 residents, with 80 percent of homicides in the county over the prior decade involving firearms, even as overall violent crime declined 7 percent in the preceding reporting period.
For now, key details remain unknown. Police have not said whether foul play is suspected, how long the vehicle sat on West College Street before it was discovered, or who the victim is. The investigation remains open, with the SBI continuing to assist Whiteville's Criminal and Narcotics Investigations Unit as the case moves forward.
