An inmate who escaped from a North Carolina county jail on March 27 has been found decapitated, authorities said.
Authorities identified Kelvin Singleton, 26, an escaped inmate, as the headless body found partially decomposed last Thursday in a wooded area, News Channel 3 WTKR reports.
#BREAKING: Decapitated body found in Bertie Co. identified as escaped Chowan Co. inmate https://t.co/5uU8HRHqOX pic.twitter.com/yP5GL6Ov45
— WTKR NewsChannel 3 (@WTKR3) April 12, 2016
Singleton, who was detained in January on second-degree kidnapping and armed robbery charges, was believed to have been headed toward Charlotte, N.C., where his mother and child live.
“He used what we believe to be a makeshift shank — A knife made out of a toothbrush,” Sheriff Dwayne Goodwin told reporters, according to WAVY.
Goodwin emphasized there was no indication anybody assisted Singleton.
Chowan County Sheriff says there is no evidence escaped inmate is being assisted by someone else. https://t.co/BO3myBX2l9 @WTKR3
— Merris Badcock (@MerrisBadcock) March 28, 2016
“We had an inmate, while they were moving them around after visitation pull a shank, or a homemade knife on one of the detention officers,” Goodwin told WTKR. “They sit there all day long with time to kill, so they are always thinking about ways of getting out, or things they can do.”
Singleton used his shank to force one of the detention officers to release him. The detention officer was unharmed.
Although authorities deployed a K-9 unit to search for Singleton, rainy weather hindered the dog’s ability to pick up a strong scent, according to WTKR.
A hunting club member discovered Singleton’s nude and headless body on April 7 in a wooded region of Bertie County.
Singleton’s body had likely been at the location where it was found for about a week, added Bertie County Sheriff John Holley.
“The loss of life is sad no matter who it is,” Goodwin told WAVY. “He was somebody’s child.”
The Bertie County Sheriff’s Office and the State Bureau of Investigation are investigating Singleton’s death as a homicide, according to The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. His head is still missing.