Memorial service planned for woman found dead

Community advocates are planning a memorial service Thursday for the Rocky Mount woman whose body was found abandoned in a thicket in February off Melton Drive.

Elizabeth Jane Smallwood had been dead for at least year when authorities identified her remains earlier this month, but the 33-year-old was never reported missing to police.

Reacting to a Telegram report that found Smallwood seemingly had no close family and few known friends in the area, a group of community advocates is working with Whitehead Funeral & Cremation to offer Smallwood a proper memorial service.

“Her story breaks my heart,” said Carolyn Whitehead Hart, director of the funeral home. “I don’t care what she did in life, she deserves a proper funeral.”

Smallwood matches the profile of six other Rocky Mount women found dead in similar circumstances since 2003. Each of the victims, including Smallwood, was known to have peddled sex to feed drug habits, according to criminal records and family. A task force of federal, state and local investigators has been probing the murders the past several months for possible connections.

Smallwood is the only woman among the seven victims never reported missing to police. It took a number of investigative leads and an extensive background check, police said, simply to identify Smallwood as a possible victim.

A death certificate obtained Monday by the Telegram reveals Smallwood was born in Lexington-Fayette, Ky., to parents, Robert and Linda Smallwood. The couple, living now in small town outside Atlanta, hadn’t spoken to their daughter in years, officials said. The family couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

Until recently, Smallwood’s remains had been in limbo, left for days unclaimed.

“The community will come together to remember her,” Whitehead said. “Everyone deserves to be remembered, you know?”

Smallwood’s remains are being handled by a Greensboro-based cremation service.

The local community group, Murdered or Missing Sisters, is organizing the memorial service to be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at Whitehead Funeral & Cremation on Lawrence Circle. Smallwood’s sister, also of Georgia, is allowing MoMS to take control of the remains and to go ahead with the service without the family.

MoMS member Zenira Wiggins put out a call Monday, asking for help from any community members willing to sing, pray or speak at the service. Whitehead is offering her services free of charge.

“The whole community is invited,” Whitehead said. “We’ll give her a proper tribute.”