High Point Police officers pulled a body from a creek near South Main Street and Greenview Terrace on Wednesday afternoon, launching a death investigation in a quiet southwest High Point neighborhood. Police have not released the identity of the person found, and they say no foul play is currently suspected in the death.
According to WXII 12, the High Point Police Department received a report of a person in a creek and responded at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. Officers arriving at the scene found one person dead, and police have not released additional information about the circumstances surrounding the death. Local station FOX8 reported that officers actually arrived closer to 2 p.m. and secured the area with tape while noting no initial signs of foul play, a discrepancy in the timeline that has not been resolved between the two outlets’ reporting.
The waterway running along South Main Street and Greenview Terrace is part of Richland Creek, an urban drainage basin that eventually feeds into the Deep River and the Randleman Reservoir drinking water supply, according to the Piedmont Triad Regional Council. The intersection sits within the student attendance zone for Fairview Elementary School, placing the discovery close to a residential and school-adjacent stretch of southwest High Point.
Why the Medical Examiner Has to Get Involved
Under North Carolina General Statutes § 130A-383, state law requires that any sudden, unexpected, unattended, or unnatural death be reported to a medical examiner for an official investigation into cause and manner of death, per the North Carolina General Assembly. That statute is why the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy in this case, even though police have not indicated they suspect a crime. The autopsy is expected to determine more about how the person died, though officials have not offered a timeline for results…