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For some of Felicia Coleman’s family members the discovery feels like a path to closure, but others still have questions about the investigation up to this point.
“It’s devastating,” Coleman’s brother, William Watson, said. “You’re angry, but at the same time you’re sad and you’re confused.”
“You have a lot of questions and no one has answers,” he continued.
In a release from the Goldsboro Police Department sent out in late July, the department said that in November 2001, 23-year-old Felicia Coleman was declared missing and never seen again.
Less than a month later, human remains were found by hunters in Wayne County. At the time, State Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified them as a male.
A spokesperson for the department said the next development in the case came in January 2011 when the state contacted the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, telling them the remains found nearly a decade earlier actually belonged to a woman. Officials had still yet to make the connection between the remains and Coleman's body.
“No matter how long it is, it still hurts the same, because it’s my sister, you know?” Janice Thompson said. “She left behind kids, a family, my mother, my brothers, my sister.”
Other relatives of Coleman were left with questions, asking why it took nearly 10 years after the remains were initially found to discover they belonged to a woman.
“They had DNA testing in 2001 as well so you could’ve ran the same testing you did in 2011 to find out whether this was a male or a female, and then go further with the investigation,” Watson said.
The investigator with GPD said Coleman’s remains were DNA tested in 2011, but due to faulty dental records, the state didn’t consider them to be a match for her.
Family of Goldsboro woman whose remains were identified after 20 years hope for justice :: WRAL.com
“It’s devastating,” Coleman’s brother, William Watson, said. “You’re angry, but at the same time you’re sad and you’re confused.”
“You have a lot of questions and no one has answers,” he continued.
In a release from the Goldsboro Police Department sent out in late July, the department said that in November 2001, 23-year-old Felicia Coleman was declared missing and never seen again.
Less than a month later, human remains were found by hunters in Wayne County. At the time, State Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified them as a male.
A spokesperson for the department said the next development in the case came in January 2011 when the state contacted the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, telling them the remains found nearly a decade earlier actually belonged to a woman. Officials had still yet to make the connection between the remains and Coleman's body.
“No matter how long it is, it still hurts the same, because it’s my sister, you know?” Janice Thompson said. “She left behind kids, a family, my mother, my brothers, my sister.”
Other relatives of Coleman were left with questions, asking why it took nearly 10 years after the remains were initially found to discover they belonged to a woman.
“They had DNA testing in 2001 as well so you could’ve ran the same testing you did in 2011 to find out whether this was a male or a female, and then go further with the investigation,” Watson said.
The investigator with GPD said Coleman’s remains were DNA tested in 2011, but due to faulty dental records, the state didn’t consider them to be a match for her.
Family of Goldsboro woman whose remains were identified after 20 years hope for justice :: WRAL.com
