Catawba County deputies confirmed the discovery of human remains Wednesday afternoon in the southeastern part of the county near Catawba Valley Boulevard, setting off an investigation that now includes state agents and the medical examiner's office. Deputies received the initial report at about 1:45 p.m. and arrived on scene roughly fifteen minutes later to confirm what callers had found.
According to 860wacb.com, deputies were dispatched to the area near Catawba Valley Boulevard on October 14, 2026, after receiving a report about the remains, and arrived around 2 p.m. to confirm the find. The Catawba County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division has since opened a formal investigation into the discovery, as Queen City News also reported.
State Agents and Medical Examiner Brought In
The case has quickly expanded beyond local deputies. The Catawba County Sheriff's Office is being assisted by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, per the same station's report, a step that signals the seriousness with which authorities are treating the discovery. Investigators and agents are also working with the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine both the identity of the decedent and the cause of death.
Those two questions — who the person was and how they died — remain unanswered for now. Officials have not released further details about the condition of the remains or how they were found, and the report notes that additional information will be released as it becomes available.
Other Recent Cases in the County
Wednesday's discovery is not the only time this year that human remains have surfaced in Catawba County, though there is no indication the cases are connected. In July, police and SBI agents searching for missing 79-year-old Claude Wayne “Doc” Holsclaw located human remains buried at a property on 4th Street Place SW near Highway 40 in Brookford, according to WCCB Charlotte. Investigators at the time could not confirm whether those remains belonged to Holsclaw or were connected to his disappearance. Authorities later arrested 34-year-old Joshua Begley and charged him with murder in Holsclaw's death, WCCB Charlotte reported in a follow-up story.
Separately, police and State Bureau of Investigation agents searched a home on Seventh Avenue Southwest in Long View earlier this year after receiving a tip that human remains might be buried beneath the residence, according to WSOC-TV. Court documents in that case alleged two bodies were buried beneath a bedroom and covered with lime, and investigators used a cadaver dog before sifting through dirt removed from the crawl space, the station reported.
No details released so far tie Wednesday's discovery near Catawba Valley Boulevard to either of those earlier cases. For now, the Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division, the SBI, and the medical examiner's office remain focused on identifying the person found and determining how they died, with officials pledging to share more information as the investigation develops.
