WINGMAN

Two Charged After Pet Duck Helps Solve Murder Mystery

Investigators struggled to solve the case without a body. That all changed when a pet duck scampered under the suspects’ mobile home.

A pet duck in North Carolina is being hailed a local hero after helping investigators locate the body of an elderly woman who had been missing for two years. Nellie Sullivan was 92 when she was determined missing in 2020. Her granddaughter, Angela Wamsley, was suspected of being involved in her disappearance along with a man, Mark Barnes, according to authorities. “It became pretty apparent almost immediately that Miss Sullivan had disappeared under what can be said suspicious circumstances,” Sgt. Mark Walker of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office said. Wamsley and Barnes were arrested for concealing the death, ABC 13 reports, but investigators struggled to solve the case without a body. That changed on April 14 when a pet duck scampered under a mobile home where Wamsley and Barnes were living. When the concerned duck owners retrieved their pet from beneath the trailer, they made a startling discovery: a container with Sullivan’s body. Both Wamsley and Barnes have now been charged for the woman’s murder. Regarding the discovery, Walker said, “If I could give that duck a medal, I would.”