Body of missing North Carolina woman is found inside her crashed car THREE DAYS after it was impounded by state trooper

Carolyn Ann Watkins, 62, was discovered in a tow yard on Monday with family believing she was hidden under a deployed airbag
Highway Patrol Trooper who first reported car is placed on paid administrative duty

By Associated Press Reporter and Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 17:49 EST, 2 April 2013 | UPDATED: 07:29 EST, 3 April 2013

Missing: Carolyn Ann Watkins, 62, of Clayton was reported missing by her son early Monday after she failed to show up at work

The body of a missing North Carolina woman was found inside her wrecked car three days after it was towed away from the crash scene.

Carolyn Ann Watkins, 62, of Clayton was reported missing by her son early Monday after she failed to show up at work.

Watkins' crashed 2000 Pontiac was found several days earlier, on Friday morning, in a deep ditch near Smithfield about 30 miles southeast of Raleigh.

Both air bags had deployed, according to an accident report filed Friday by North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Marlon Williams.

'Note: No driver at the scene of this collision,' Williams wrote in his report.

But Watkins' body was in fact still inside the car, her family believes hidden under the deployed airbags.

The patrol had a local towing company move the car to a lot for storage, where it remained with the Clayton woman inside until her body was discovered Monday evening by a Smithfield police officer searching for clues about her disappearance.

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Found: Watkins' body was later found inside her impounded car three days after it was towed from a crash site

Report: Trooper M.D. Williams, a 9-year Highway Patrol veteran, filed the crash report after Watkins' 2000 red Pontiac was discovered

It was not immediately clear when Watkins died. She was last seen alive on Thursday.

Watkins' son, Al Parker, wondered if his mother's life, a grandmother of four, might have been saved if the trooper had noticed her in the car.

'I'm thinking she could still have been alive,' Parker said Tuesday. 'How do you not look in the car? When you pulled the car out, how do you not see a body in the car?'

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Watkins' family say she was in good health at the time of the crash leaving them baffled by what may have caused her to veer off the road.

Authorities do report having found marijuana in her purse after it was discover at the impound lot.

Scene: It was in this ditch that Watkins' vehicle was discovered on Friday after veering off the road for reasons not immediately known

Williams, a 9-year veteran of the Highway Patrol, has been placed on paid administrative duty pending the outcome of an internal review that will be conducted with help from the State Bureau Investigation.

The patrol refused to release any further information about the incident.

'We will release accurate information to the public as soon as available and appropriate,' Public Safety Commissioner Frank Perry said in a brief written statement. 'At this early stage, our main concern is to conduct a thorough and professional investigation so we can determine exactly what happened.'

Heartbreak: Watkins' family, already suffering from their heartbreak in losing her so unexpectedly, say they are now additionally left dealing with the upset of how she was found

Sickened: Watckins' son Cavin Wooten called the entire ordeal sickening while thinking about how his mother was found on Monday

'She sat in that impound lot from Friday until Monday. It's sickening,' her son Cavin Wooten tells WTVD.

A man who answered the phone at Dustin's Towing and Recovery in Willow Springs said the highway patrol asked him not to talk about the incident.

An autopsy is now underway to find out when exactly she died and if marijuana or any other substance was in her system at the time of the crash.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

Trooper didn't spot woman in wrecked car

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Everyone needs to understand how much paperwork there is for finding a deceased person versas a impounded vehicle. - stoney, richmond va., United States, 3/4/2013 1:03 Really....and its easier to sit small children in front of the TV all day do and give them fast/micro food. BUT being a responsible parent, YOU don't that.

- LauraJP , Groveland Florida, United States, 03/4/2013 13:20

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North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Marlon Williams - not the sharpest pencil in the box.

- cranky_old_bat , Somewhere_over_the_rainbow, 03/4/2013 13:13

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I wonder what caused the large amount of damage to the windshield on the passenger side of Mrs Watkin's car. Did it happen prior to the wreck? During? Is it an inward or outward impact? I noticed the passenger side airbag was deployed. Our cars usually have sensors that prevent the passenger airbag from deploying in an accident unless there is a passenger in the seat or an item weighing more than 80 pounds sitting in the seat with the seat belt buckled. The passenger airbag should not have deployed if she was alone.

- DrRadar , Southside, 03/4/2013 13:00

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Thank goodness the State Trooper is not white!

- Sayer , Dejuva, Djibouti, 03/4/2013 12:50

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The reporting is as disgraceful as the actions of the state trooper and the tow company. You could have a whole purse full of Ambien, Xanax, or any other prescription drug and it wouldn't be mentioned. Why bring up the marijuana in her purse? RIP Ms Watkins, and may your family find peace and comfort.

- Mrs. Summer , Connecticut USA, 03/4/2013 12:41

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Does the Met train US cops too?

- usednurse , Borders, Scotland, 03/4/2013 12:34

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they'll find SOME WAY to blame the cannabis.

- melissamtjoy , United States of America, 03/4/2013 12:05

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That road needs guard rails!! - VerBose , Houston,TX, 03/4/2013 10:37 --- Who is going to pay for the guard rails? You? The "gomment" is you...

- Frank_Alexander , Washington DC, 03/4/2013 11:14

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There is something disrespectful about the way this item has been written. The lady's name is Mrs Watkins not Watkins. sue , London, United Kingdom, 03/4/2013 09:29 Sue - In my experience this seems to be something the Americans do - in writing they refer to everyone, male or female, by just their surname. I 'anglicise' company news for the UK subsidiary of a large company with its HQ in the USA - and constantly have to replace the continual use of surnames with a forename.

- S Small , Sidcup, United Kingdom, 03/4/2013 11:06

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Judging by the picture, the body was probably on the floor under the dash board. I can understand how a body could be missed, under the deflated airbags, with just a quick look in the car.

- RobertG , Rockville, United States, 03/4/2013 11:04

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