A Durham Court judge denied a motion to unseal search warrants and 911 calls regarding the unsolved murder investigation of UNC student Faith Hedgepeth, the Durham Superior Court Clerk’s office confirmed.
Hedgepeth, 19, was found murdered in her off-campus apartment on September 7, 2012. The apartment complex was inside Durham County lines. Authorities have said they don’t believe the crime was a random act, thought they haven’t disclosed how she was killed or information about possible suspects.
For 18 months, Durham District Attorney Leon Stanback has requested that the court to reseal the documents, which were sealed three days after Hedgepath’s death, to keep from “compromising the investigation.”
According to the state’s motion to keep the documents sealed, there were search warrants for a 1977 Honda Accord, a unit in Hedgepeth’s apartment complex and her own apartment, WNCN reported. Investigators also searched a laptop and a Facebook account.
Stanback told WCHL News in September of 2013 that he would seek to keep the documents sealed for as long as the courts allow.
Superior Court Judge Howard Manning said Wednesday that the documents, including the autopsy report, would remain sealed until he reviews them, without specifying how long the process would take, according to multiple news outlets.
Earlier this month, several Triangle media companies filed a motion asking the court to unseal the case documents, which was heard in court Wednesday.
The Durham District Attorney’s Office will prosecute a suspect, should any arrests be made, though the Chapel Hill Police Department is the investigating agency.
On January 8 of this year, the CHPD released details of the investigation, including DNA of a male suspect found at the scene.
Chapel Hill Police continue to express that this is not a cold case and that it is continuing to follow leads.
The Daily Tar Heel reported this week that police did not request video evidence that might have revealed information about the hours leading up to Hedgepeth’s murder.
On the evening of her death, Hedgepeth and her roommate went to The Thrill, a bar on E. Rosemary St. George King, the owner of George’s Towing and Recovery, has more than a dozen video cameras in the area, which could have captured footage of Hedgepeth leaving the bar, though it is recorded over every few weeks.
But King said Chapel Hill Police never requested footage collected on his cameras the night she was found murdered, according to the Daily Tar Heel.
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Authorities continue to seek any information that could help in the investigation. Anyone with information should call the Chapel Hill Police Department at 919-614-6363 or Crime Stoppers at 919-942-7515.
A reward up to $39,000 is available to anyone with information that can help solve the case.
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