Raleigh, N.C. — A Leesville Road High School student who was found dead early Sunday, a day after she was involved in a crash, had alcohol in her car, authorities said Monday.
Lauren Maria Jenkins, 17, was reported missing after she was involved in a collision late Friday at the intersection of Leesville and Oneal roads.
Trooper D. Gray said Jenkins failed to yield as she attempted to make a left turn and pulled in front of a car driven by Carly Brown. Gray said Brown told him Jenkins appeared to be injured as she walked and then ran off after the crash.
Gray declined to say what kind of alcohol was in the car, but he said Jenkins faced at least a hit-and-run charge in the crash, so he went looking for her. He said he searched for her for about 45 minutes and even went to her home on Sawyer Drive, where no one came to the front door.
He returned to the area Saturday morning, where he found Wake County deputies searching for Jenkins, he said.
Jenkins’ mother apparently had received a text message with a photo of the family’s damaged car and called the Wake County Sheriff’s Office for assistance, Gray said, adding that he joined in the search.
On Sunday morning, a member of the K-9 unit picked up the teen’s scent, and authorities found her body in a wooded area near Wood Lawn Drive in the Springdale Estates neighborhood – about three blocks from the crash scene and less than a mile from her home.
Jenkins’ body was taken the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death.