Cold case in Elizabeth City solved

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. - The Pasquotank Sheriff's Department says Mary Tressa Bond Carter was probably strangled, and possibly had a broken neck.

According to Sheriff Randy Cartwright, Carter was killed in a camper trailer, one quarter of a mile from where she was found in a shallow grave. The Sheriff says Carter was killed In August 2006 by her boyfriend Curtis Roch, who is now charged with Murder.

Cartwright would not reveal intricate details of the investigation, but WAVY.com found the trailer she was supposedly killed in, in a business park across the street from Coast Guard Station Elizabeth City.

"Mary Carter was killed following an argument with Mr. Roch. Once our investigations started, after we were contacted by Kill Devil Hills, we followed up leads that not only is she missing, she's probably dead. We then determined Mr. Roch did kill her, and buried her in a secluded farm field."

Several law enforcement agencies converged on a field near the trailer. K-9s were brought in along with ground point radar used to locate empty spaces in the ground - possible graves. They dug in several areas on the farm over two consecutive Fridays. Remains were unearthed November 7. The remains were sent to the medical examiner who identified the remains belonging to Mary Carter.

"We know he was by himself, buried her by himself." Cartwright would not say whether Roch, who is serving time for an unrelated crime, admitted he killed Carter. But when pressed by WAVY.com it would have to be the killer or an accomplice who led police to the remains, Cartwright would only say, "Roch buried her alone." When pressed again, then it must have been Roch who told police where to find Cartwright's remains he said, "...you're a good investigator."

Roch is serving time in Tabor City North Carolina for failing to properly register as a sex offender. When he gets out of prison for that crime, he will then face charges in Elizabeth City for murder.

Cartwright credits Kill Devil Hills police for never giving up on the missing person story offered to them by Carter's mother, who refused to do any interview for this story.