Suspect sought in murder case in south Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, NC (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are searching for a killer in south Charlotte.

On Thursday morning, police announced they had found the BMW of Whitney Hurd, the missing woman who was found dead in her Werburgh Street townhouse on Sunday.

The police classified the case as manslaughter.

The call from the Magnolia Park neighborhood is disturbing.

The dispatcher appears to say that a private investigator found Hurd’s body and that there was a lot of blood in a blanket.

The shock waves can still be felt in the neighborhood.

“It’s crazy. I live down the street with my wife and we never expected to be questioned about a murder investigation in SouthPark,” said Hill Gage, a neighbor.

Police tape was stretched directly in front of the neighbors’ windows.

“So close to our home, there was a little concern,” said Mike Zeinemann, another neighbor.

Zeinemann did not know that 32-year-old Hurd, who lived two houses down, had been missing for 10 days until police showed up in the neighborhood on Sunday.

“You don’t want to see something like that. You just hope that it’s not a coincidence, as bad as that may sound, or just a strange break-in. That would be even scarier,” said Zeinemann.

Hurd’s body was found in her Werburgh Street home on Sunday.

The next day, police announced that Hurd had been killed.

“To hear that it’s a murder and they don’t know who did it is a little more disturbing. It scares us a little bit. This is a generally safe area. It scares us a little bit that it’s not as safe as we thought,” Gage said.

Police found Hurd’s BMW on Thursday morning but gave no indication where.

“A little more information would certainly help alleviate some of the concerns and worries, especially in the neighborhood,” Zeinemann said.

Until then, Gage says, he will take care of himself and his wife.

“I’ll probably send the dog out with her if she has to walk around the neighborhood at night. I guess we just have to protect ourselves until we figure out what’s going on, and I hope the perpetrator is no longer in the area,” Gage said.

Police are not releasing any information about the motive or circumstances leading to Whitney Hurd’s murder.