Missing woman’s remains were bound with electrical cord and burned, NC autopsy finds

Jessica Lawrence, a North Carolina lab technician who went missing in September before her remains were found in late October, had been bound with electrical cord and burned beyond recognition, according to an autopsy.

Lawrence, 42, was reported missing on Oct. 12, about two weeks after family members said she was last seen at her home in St. Pauls, about 20 miles south of Fayetteville, McClatchy News previously reported.

Sometime after Lawrence’s disappearance, a suspect had been pulled over while driving her vehicle, according to the autopsy report obtained by McClatchy News.. Blood was found in her car as well as in her house.

Lawrence’s body was found on Oct. 25 in a pile of trash in a wooded area off a dirt road. Her feet had been bound with an electrical cord and her body was burned to the point where little soft tissue was left, according to the autopsy report.

North Carolina’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified her using dental records.

Because of the condition of her remains, forensic technicians could not determine a single cause of death, but stated in the report that she died of “homicidal violence of undetermined means.”

In April, the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office arrested Michael Brayboy and charged him with multiple counts, including first-degree murder, burning of property, concealing a death, altering/destroying evidence and larceny of a vehicle, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

“While this arrest brings some closure to the family of Jessica Lawrence, they will need our continued prayers,” Robeson County Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said in the statement. “This senseless(,) cowardly murder of an innocent woman was gruesome in nature and no one deserved this treatment.”

Brayboy is being held in the Robeson County Detention Center.

Lawrence worked as a lab technician at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, according to her obituary and the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office. She had a daughter and two sons.

“She had a strong personality and was very loving and caring,” Isaac Hardy wrote on her memorial service website.

Hardy wrote that the two got married on Valentine’s Day when they were young, and although they eventually divorced, they remained friends.

“Her smile was radiant, and her laugh was just as funny,” he wrote, “she will be truly missed and will always have a special place in my heart.”

A former coworker wrote that she loved Lawrence “like a sister.”

“When we got together(, it) was always a good time,” wrote Javata Epps. “I’m gonna miss her loud self and her crazy laugh.”

McClatchy News reporter Simone Jasper contributed to this story.

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