Thursday, June 14, 2012

Pelham, NC: Man found shot in burning Caswell home; suspect later found dead

A Caswell County, N.C., man was found dead Tuesday in his burning home and the suspect in the case died Wednesday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Deputies from the Caswell County Sheriff’s Office responded to a house fire at 889 Jennings Blackwell Road in Pelham, N.C., Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. and found the body of the homeowner — Vestor Joe Moore, 66 — in the fully engulfed home.

The victim was suffering from gunshot wounds and was not responsive. He was transported to Danville Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to Lt. Frank Rose.

An early suspect in the case was 49-year-old Cheryl Moore, who lived in the house with Vestor Moore and is believed to have been his girlfriend.

Though the couple had the same last name, they were not married. Rose said Cheryl Moore was the ex-wife of a cousin of Vestor Moore’s, and had kept her married name.

Attempts to locate Cheryl Moore included sending notices to surrounding counties and Virginia. On Wednesday, officers from the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office reported they had located her — dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Cheryl Moore’s body was sent to the State Medical Examiners Office in Roanoke for an autopsy, while Vestor Moore’s body went to the N.C. State Medical Examiner’s Office in Chapel Hill for an autopsy.

Rose said the case remains under investigation with the assistance of the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation.

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