The search for a 30-year-old accountant who went missing after an argument with her fiance has been called off after investigators found no leads in a forest where her burnt-out SUV was found.
Dara Lee Watson was reported missing on Friday, just hours before her fiance David Hedrick, 34, was found dead in their Mount Pleasant, South Carolina home by police officers.
Neighbours had reported hearing loud bangs before the business owner's body was found.
Scroll down for video
Missing: Dara Lee Watson, a 30-year-old accountant, was last seen by her mother in North Carolina on Monday 6. Her fiance David Hedrick told police they had an argument that night and she left on Tuesday
Hedrick had previously told Mount Pleasant police officers the pair had argued on Monday night and Watson had left their home on Tuesday morning, and he had not seen her since.
Police found Hedrick dead inside the home on Saturday at 12.45 a.m. The coroner's office will not confirm how he died, telling WCIV the incident is under investigation.
More than 100 officers combed the Francis Marion National Forest on Saturday and Sunday after her white GMC Envoy was found there on Friday. They were joined by Watson's relatives.
'They just wanted to get a feel for the area - where the vehicle was located and just get a feel for the area of the search and the magnitude of what was going on with the search,' Charleston County Sheriff's Office spokesman Major James Brady told WCIV
Happier times: Mr Hedrick, pictured with Miss Watson, was found dead at their home on Saturday morning
Fears: Officers found Miss Watson's burnt-out SUV in a forest but have found no clues to her whereabouts
Search groups turned over leaves in several miles of wooded area, but the search ended around 3.30 p.m. with no results, WCIV reported.
'We came out to expand the search that we initially started yesterday,' Brady said.
They were looking for 'any evidence, any clues of anything that might tie into the case for the missing person, and to give it a better opportunity to search the areas a little bit deeper than yesterday'.
Brady told the news channel that search efforts would not continue in the area unless there were new leads.
Speaking to ABC4, Mount Pleasant police chief Harry Sewell added they were uncertain how long Watson's SUV had been in the woods.
No evidence: Mount Pleasant police have called off a search in the woods after they found no leads
Found: Police are uncertain how long Miss Watson's SUV was in the woods. It has been taken away for investigation
'The vehicle was towed and is being searched for evidence,' he added.
'We're just trying our best to locate this young lady. We've had dogs searching the area looking for bodies. We've been looking for evidence. We don't really know what we're looking for.'
Watson's mother - the last person apart from Hedrick to see the missing woman - saw her daughter on Monday in Boone, North Carolina.
Police told ABC4 that Watson's mobile phone was last used on Wednesday February 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Mount Pleasant, according to cell tower information.
Together: It is believed Watson and Hedrick had been a couple since 2009 and lived together in North Carolina
In love: The couple had a fight on the night of Monday 6. Watson left the home the next day, Hedrick told police
Watson's boss had also received a text message that day saying that she was fine - but the 30-year-old has not been heard from since.
Police stressed that they are still treating the case as a search for a missing person.
Even though the missing person's report and apparent suicide occurred within hours of each other, police have said it is too soon to link the incidents.
'At this point it's an active investigation,' Sewell said. 'We're trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Nothing is more important than finding Watson.'
Scene: Hedrick was found dead in his $410,000 home on Saturday. Neighbours said they had heard gunshots
Hedrick owned local bail bond company Palmetto Surety. In 2010, he bought the $410,000 house on North Creek Drive where his body was found, according to the Post and Courier.
Watson, who also lived at the home, met Watson in April 2009 at the Heritage Golf Tournament in Hilton Head, according to her Facebook page.
The accountant's social networking page is crammed with photographs of her taking trips - many with Hedrick - to destinations around the world, including Australia, Italy, Costa Rica and Peru.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-21...l#ixzz1mFMplbDB
