Body of Nash County native discovered after five years

Emily King has been praying for closure, she said, but her son’s body at the bottom of a channel wasn’t the closure she had hoped for.

Authorities this week discovered the Jeep Cherokee owned by King’s son, George Quinn, submerged at the bottom of Gallants Channel near the mouth of Taylor’s Creek in Beaufort.

Quinn’s remains were inside.

It had been nearly five years since Quinn, a Nash County native, disappeared without warning from his new home in Carteret County. King, who lives in Nashville, wept tears of both sorrow and joy when she heard the news.

“The mystery is over. The wondering. The waiting. It’s finally over,” King said. “But it’s hard. It’s bringing back all the emotions and memories. It’s like losing him all over again.”

Then 27 years old, Quinn gave his mother and family little indication he was unhappy with his circumstances. But on a cool day in early February 2005, Quinn made a quick call to his ex-girlfriend. He packed up a few items and loaded them into his Jeep. He pulled away from his Carteret County home that night.

And for the better part of five years, he was never heard from again.

“It’s hard to laugh and smile and try to go on with your life when your heart is breaking,” King told the Telegram two years ago on the third anniversary of her son’s disappearance. “There’s always going to be that void and that loss and that wondering.

“When you see a car go by ... you stop and you look twice. You look to see if he’s in that black Jeep Cherokee. You look across somewhere, and there is a guy who looks so much like your son that your heart is in your throat. All you want is for him to turn around and for it to be him and for him to say, ‘Hey mom.’”

King said she never gave up hope of finding her son alive. That was until this week.

Two recreational divers contacted authorities Monday after finding what appeared to be a Jeep in Gallants Channel. Divers with the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office were in the water the next day, Chief Detective Jason Wank said.

“We found the Jeep fairly quickly, and they pulled up the front license plate,” Wank said. “It was the same vehicle registered to George Quinn, and his body was inside.”

How Quinn and his Jeep ended up in the water about 100 feet from the street remains a mystery, but authorities presume he swerved off the road. The investigation is ongoing.

King said her son was happy, but on the evening of Feb. 5, 2005, Quinn called his ex-girlfriend and suggested that he was unhappy with his living situation in Cape Carteret, police reports said.

Cell phone records indicate the last phone call Quinn made came from some place near the town of Beaufort. Authorities the past 41⁄2 years have searched for Quinn and his Jeep by foot, by helicopter and by boat.

“It was unbelievable after all these years,” said Wank, who has been on the case from the start. “I was sad that it ended this way, because I was always hoping he could have been out there somewhere. But I’m relieved for the family that we can finally bring closure to this case and bring George home.”

Quinn’s funeral will be in Rocky Mount, his mother said. Arrangement will be announced by Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home.

“Finding him this way was very hard,” King said. “It was a mother’s worst nightmare. As hard as it was, at least it gave me closure.”