Found Deceased NC - Karin Ottenberg, 49, mom of 2, vehicle, phone & purse were found at her home in Sunset Park nbhd, Wilmington, 22 Dec 2024

[nao]

Moo...maybe behind a couch, under a table. Obscure in this case means not out in the open..moo

 

[lonetraveler]

Moo...maybe behind a couch, under a table. Obscure in this case means not out in the open..moo

Yes, I know obscure means not out in the open. I guess eventually the public will know more about this case but it wouldn't be the first time in Wilmington, NC that you never hear anything again.

 

[Gemmie]

I just wanted to post an observation that I can't stop thinking about. What I'm guessing is her most recent photo I've outlined in red. The look on her face it night and day from all the other very bubbly, carefree, playful, and happy pics of her. The one I outlined she's so... pensive looking. Like she's deep in thought about something that doesn't seem to have her in the same moods as those other pics of her. She has a smile, just not anything like the smiles we've come to know she can generate as in all those other pics. I even did the thing with my fingers with last 2 pics to block all but her eyes. "Sad" comes to mind when I do that with the outlined pic. "Weary" too. But is she tired physically, or mentally? I'm guessing mentally, but over what? It's almost like that outlined pic isn't even the same person IMO.

Even her eyes in the last 2 are night and day. One is oozing with happiness, the other... inner turmoil. ALL JMO but there's just something haunting about the pic I outlined. Especially due to her being found deceased in an obscure place. An accident is the furthest thing from my mind with this case.

Obvs... JMO on all this.

Pic sources:

49-year-old missing woman found deceased | Port City Daily

WILMINGTON — A 49-year-old missing woman, last seen at her home in Sunset Park, has been found. According to the Wilmington Police Department, Karin Rochelle Ottenberg was found dead at her Harrison…

portcitydaily.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1872430696750260394

 

[jillolantern]

I found this statement odd about her being found in an obscure place. Even if there wasn't countless searchers added to the mix, just family, friends & LE is quite a lot considering how small her home was. And add to it countless searchers? I'd like to know what this obscure place ends up being.

Ottenberg was found in an “obscure location that family, friends, countless searchers, and law enforcement walked past.”

49-year-old missing woman found deceased | Port City Daily

WILMINGTON — A 49-year-old missing woman, last seen at her home in Sunset Park, has been found. According to the Wilmington Police Department, Karin Rochelle Ottenberg was found dead at her Harrison…

portcitydaily.com

Feels like CYA to me. Don't blame us, trained LE that should know how to do this, because countless searchers missed her. IMO

 

[Angelcat13]

I'd think they'd open every door/space that she could fit into, including looking under the beds or behind any furniture should a body be able to be concealed behind any. I can't imagine not looking in a closet. It would be a slipshod investigation IMO if they didn't do something as simple as that. The only other thing I can think of is outside of the house on the property somewhere, like a shed, covered well, etc. Basically anyplace a person her size would fit. And that would include inside barrels, suitcases, etc. JMO!

What about possibly a fold out couch or Murphy bed that she somehow got stuck in. (I know…unlikely scenarios like this occasionally pop up in movies, but is this even a real possibility?)

 

[Angelcat13]

That's my take. While I could be wrong, I'm more in the suicide department than a weird accident, only because her house was so small and they "walked right by her" (paraphrased). Christmas can be hard on some people. It really puts them into a funk if they are struggling financially, or feeling lonely. Both are JMO. I'm not saying she was either. Just that the holidays can affect some people in a bad way, unfortunately.

If there may have been a small utility closet/shed or a small crawl space off of the basement, perhaps she had hidden Christmas presents in case her children still believe in Santa. Maybe while doing so she had a medical emergency, fell or had something fall on her and was injured or had positional asphyxiation. If it was some sort of detached shed/storage could she have possibly gotten stuck inside (door/lid accidentally closed?) and she died of hypothermia? I’m in South Jersey and we did have 2 days of snow around this time.

 

[Occam's Zebra]

Ottenberg was found in an “obscure location that family, friends, countless searchers, and law enforcement walked past.”

A location that a lot of people walked past - makes me think in a shed, under a bed, behind a bookcase, under the house. A place she had to intentionally place herself. Why do that? I don't know of a medical event that would compel someone to hide. Or, she was already in that space for whatever reason (looking for something or retrieving an item) and then had the medical event.

 

[dalsglen]

Hanging from the back of a door perhaps?

Or in the garden, as she was into plants.

 

[Gemmie]

Looks like we got some answers. A couple of points from the article:

1) it wasn't inside the house, it was outside in a "difficult to locate" place.
2) It is being considered an accident.
3) LE is being private about it to protect the family. They have been given all the details.
4) They believe she fell, which makes me once again wonder about a well in the backyard. I know, a local has said no wells in the area, but if she fell to her death in a difficult to locate place... where else could it be? If she was cleaning her gutters they would have seen her lying on the ground IMO.
5) what doesn't make sense is they think it happened the night she went missing, but didn't her ex show up with the kids that afternoon? Afternoon and evening are hours apart.
6) The position of her body showed no evidence of self harm or of foul play.
7) Autopsy still not completed but the investigation is no longer active. No idea when that will be.

Wilmington PD say missing woman’s death was accident | Port City Daily

WILMINGTON — An investigation into a woman’s recent death after going missing over the holidays is no longer active as the death is being considered an accident. READ MORE: 49-year-old missing woman…

portcitydaily.com

RIP Karin.

 

[marloweclover]

Off the roof -- Christmas lights, perhaps? -- into a thick or overgrown foundation planting, ending up behind it against the house? I'm really stretching here, but what else can a person fall fatally from in a flat, urban yard? Although you'd think to get on the roof you'd need a ladder, and it would presumably still be there, in which case IMO you'd at least consider a fall.

 

[Gemmie]

Off the roof -- Christmas lights, perhaps? -- into a thick or overgrown foundation planting, ending up behind it against the house? I'm really stretching here, but what else can a person fall fatally from in a flat, urban yard? Although you'd think to get on the roof you'd need a ladder, and it would presumably still be there, in which case IMO you'd at least consider a fall.

Yeah, if there was a ladder you'd think they'd look around right around that area for a victim of a fall. Especially when you have a missing person.

 

[cocomod]

Off the roof -- Christmas lights, perhaps? -- into a thick or overgrown foundation planting, ending up behind it against the house? I'm really stretching here, but what else can a person fall fatally from in a flat, urban yard? Although you'd think to get on the roof you'd need a ladder, and it would presumably still be there, in which case IMO you'd at least consider a fall.

Honestly, a fall can happen anywhere at any time on flat land. She slips on mud, or trips on something (anything), falls, hits her head on something. It can and does happen. My mom tripped on the leg of a chair and broke her hip. Had she been outside and fell under some brush, it could have been difficult to know where to find her. Karin was much younger and could have fallen anywhere.

Having lived through a traumatic family suicide, I am glad for her family that this was an accident and not self harm or harm from a loved one. Although still very sad, in my experience, it would be easier to take.

R.I.P. Karin

 

[lonetraveler]

If there may have been a small utility closet/shed or a small crawl space off of the basement, perhaps she had hidden Christmas presents in case her children still believe in Santa. Maybe while doing so she had a medical emergency, fell or had something fall on her and was injured or had positional asphyxiation. If it was some sort of detached shed/storage could she have possibly gotten stuck inside (door/lid accidentally closed?) and she died of hypothermia? I’m in South Jersey and we did have 2 days of snow around this time.

Well, Saturday and Sunday it was around 73 degrees in Wilmington. Just before Christmas here, it was around 60 degrees.

 

[starlightstarbright]

Into an unsecured septic tank/cesspit?

I actually fell in one as a child while visiting relatives. It was just an open tank covered by plywood. They didn’t have children of their own, so I guess didn’t really think how unsafe it was. I went to walk across the wood and it cracked and I fell in up to my waist. I was able to pull myself out and go find my mom inside the house. I must have been about 10. It was absolutely disgusting and they must have had to strip everything off and wash my clothes (and me!). But as an adult, it’s terrifying to think what a different outcome if I had fallen all the way in. There was no one around and who knows when anyone might come looking for me.

 

[lonetraveler]

Looks like we got some answers. A couple of points from the article:

1) it wasn't inside the house, it was outside in a "difficult to locate" place.
2) It is being considered an accident.
3) LE is being private about it to protect the family. They have been given all the details.
4) They believe she fell, which makes me once again wonder about a well in the backyard. I know, a local has said no wells in the area, but if she fell to her death in a difficult to locate place... where else could it be? If she was cleaning her gutters they would have seen her lying on the ground IMO.
5) what doesn't make sense is they think it happened the night she went missing, but didn't her ex show up with the kids that afternoon? Afternoon and evening are hours apart.
6) The position of her body showed no evidence of self harm or of foul play.
7) Autopsy still not completed but the investigation is no longer active. No idea when that will be.

Wilmington PD say missing woman’s death was accident | Port City Daily

WILMINGTON — An investigation into a woman’s recent death after going missing over the holidays is no longer active as the death is being considered an accident. READ MORE: 49-year-old missing woman…

portcitydaily.com

RIP Karin.

I've been gone today doing errands and missed this, this afternoon. Now, I'm wondering if she were trying to string Christmas lights on the roof or some kind of Christmas decoration. I'm still a bit confused about the wording that the family knows the details but still protecting the family by not discussing the details? What?

 

[cujenn81]

Looks like we got some answers. A couple of points from the article:

1) it wasn't inside the house, it was outside in a "difficult to locate" place.
2) It is being considered an accident.
3) LE is being private about it to protect the family. They have been given all the details.
4) They believe she fell, which makes me once again wonder about a well in the backyard. I know, a local has said no wells in the area, but if she fell to her death in a difficult to locate place... where else could it be? If she was cleaning her gutters they would have seen her lying on the ground IMO.
5) what doesn't make sense is they think it happened the night she went missing, but didn't her ex show up with the kids that afternoon? Afternoon and evening are hours apart.
6) The position of her body showed no evidence of self harm or of foul play.
7) Autopsy still not completed but the investigation is no longer active. No idea when that will be.

Wilmington PD say missing woman’s death was accident | Port City Daily

WILMINGTON — An investigation into a woman’s recent death after going missing over the holidays is no longer active as the death is being considered an accident. READ MORE: 49-year-old missing woman…

portcitydaily.com

RIP Karin.

This is so incredibly sad! The mom of one of my high school classmates fell while walking down the two or three stairs in her garage to get to her car and landed on some type of metal pole or rebar or something like that. It penetrated her brain and killed her instantly. The death was so tragic, but I tried to find comfort in knowing that she didn’t suffer and it was clearly just her time to go.

I hope Karin went just as quickly and am praying for her friends and family during this difficult time.

 

[Gemmie]

I've been gone today doing errands and missed this, this afternoon. Now, I'm wondering if she were trying to string Christmas lights on the roof or some kind of Christmas decoration. I'm still a bit confused about the wording that the family knows the details but still protecting the family by not discussing the details? What?

She very well might have been doing something on a ladder. As for family knowing the details but protecting by not discussing them... The quote from the article is:

“Karin’s family have the full details, but ultimately it is up to them as far as what detail they want to provide,”

IOW... if they want that info out, it'll come out, but it's at their discretion, not LE's. JMO

Wilmington PD say missing woman’s death was accident | Port City Daily

WILMINGTON — An investigation into a woman’s recent death after going missing over the holidays is no longer active as the death is being considered an accident. READ MORE: 49-year-old missing woman…

portcitydaily.com

 

[Gemmie]

This is Karin's house plot obtained from public records that Knox posted upthread. The lot is 7,579 sqft according to Zillow. It's not all that big IMO, as my property is ~100 SF smaller, so this has me puzzled. I'm guessing how far back her yard goes because I can't see a fence line through the trees (Pic source link below to look for yourself). Where I cut the top, or backmost part of the yard off is my guesstimate that the house behind her has at least some sort of backyard their house isn't built right on top of the fence line.

So pretty treed out back, and fairly messy/cluttered looking right up against the utility building. Other than that it's open in-between. Red lines run along the neighbor's fences. You can see the image without my red lines from the link at the bottom.

Pic SOURCE.

Zillow: 2157 Harrison St, Wilmington, NC 28401 | Zillow

 

[mlhenn]

Wilmington PD say missing woman’s death was accident | Port City Daily

WILMINGTON — An investigation into a woman’s recent death after going missing over the holidays is no longer active as the death is being considered an accident. READ MORE: 49-year-old missing woman…

portcitydaily.com

Ottenberg was found outside her home after police believe she fell to her death. The position of her body showed no evidence of intentional self harm or foul play.

….

The evidence points to Ottenberg’s death being an accident, but many details surrounding it are being kept private to protect her family.

“Karin’s family have the full details, but ultimately it is up to them as far as what detail they want to provide,” Willett wrote.

 

[CrimeSlog]

this one is very strange to me and I'm taking the "protection" of the family to mean something they aren't willing to say.