SC officials confirm body is missing woman

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — The Charleston County Coroner’s office has identified the body of Dara Lee Watson, who police say was killed by her fiancé days before he committed suicide.

Coroner Rae Wooten said Saturday the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head. The body was found Friday in the Frances Marion National Forest, not far from where police had earlier discovered the 30-year-old woman’s torched SUV.

Mount Pleasant Police Chief Harry Sewell says Watson was killed by David Hedrick on Feb. 6 or Feb. 7 and buried in a shallow grave. Hedrick shot himself on Feb. 10 after Watson was reported missing.

On Friday, after the search for Watson was called off, candlelight vigils were held in Mount Pleasant and Boone, N.C., where Watson, a North Carolina native, had family.