LINCOLNTON, N.C. — A Lincolnton man has been charged with first-degree murder after deputies said he admitted to killing a woman who was reported missing earlier this week.
On Wednesday, Mary Walters Cook, 59, was reported missing after family members said they hadn't heard from her in two days. Her vehicle was found Wednesday at Johnny's Mexican Restaurant on Highway 150. Surveillance video showed a person getting out of Cook's vehicle and walking toward the highway on the morning of September 25.
Detectives with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office found Cook's body off a bridge on Boy Scout Road. On Thursday, a search warrant was executed at the home of 60-year-old Steve Allen Avery. During the search, detectives found blood stains in the house and allege that Avery admitted to shooting Cook with a .22 caliber rifle.
Deputies said that Avery told police he took Cook's body to the area where her remains were found. He then drove Cook's vehicle back to Johnny's Mexican Restaurant and parked it behind the business.
Avery was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder. He is being held in the Lincoln County jail without bond.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at 704-732-9050 or the Lincoln County Communications Center at 704-735-8202.