UPDATE: Schemerhorn’s body found, police searching for husband

UPDATE 12/16/2009
According to police in Seven Devils, NC, the body of missing woman Deana Elizabeth Schemerhorn has been found in the Seven Devils area and positively identified. According to Chief Edward Davis, an investigator searching for the woman found her body buried in the woods near she and her husband’s Seven Devils’ home on Deepwood Court.

“He just saw something unusual in the ground and checked to see what it was and it led to the discovery of her body,“ Davis said.

Davis is now awaiting the results of Schermerhorn’s autopsy to reveal a cause of death. In the meantime, investigators are searching for her husband,  Christopher Warren Meade, for questioning. Davis considers the man a person of interest in this case.

“We don’t consider him dangerous at this time,“ Davis said. “We would just like to talk to him to see what he can tell us about this. He may not have been with her when she disappeared. We don’t know.“

Meade may be driving a maroon in color 1999 Oldsmobile Bravada four door SUV, North Carolina registration YXR4449. Meade is described as being approximately twenty six years of age, approximately five feet seven inches tall, brown hair, brown eyes with possible facial hair. Meade has contacts in Watauga and Caldwell counties and in eastern Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia.
Schemerhorn went missing on Nov. 8 of this year and was last seen in the company of Meade.

Investigators are seeking any information regarding the whereabouts of Meade.
Anyone with information on this crime please contact Seven Devils Department of Public Safety at 828-963-6760 or Special Agent Wade H. Colvard of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at 828-294-2226. You may also call Crimestoppers at 828-268-6959.  All information will be kept confidential. Crimestoppers pays rewards for information, which leads to arrests; recovery of stolen property; seizure of drugs and the location of wanted persons.

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Original Report by NATE MORABITO / 11 Connects

A woman who spent much of her childhood in the Tri-Cities is now the subject of a massive search in North Carolina. The Seven Devils (N.C.) Police Department is looking for Deana Elizabeth Schermerhorn, 41. According to police, she was last seen by family members on November 8th at her home in Seven Devils.

Schermerhorn was born in Carter County and lived in Butler until she was 12 years-old.

“I just want her to come home,“ her sister Kathy Whittemore said as she sat inside her Carter County home. “It’s the not knowing part; not knowing anything. Not knowing if she’s alive. If she’s dead.“

For Schermerhorn’s sisters, life without “Dee” is painful.

“I just can’t put it into words,“ her sister Billie Jo James said. “We just want her home, because this is pure hell.“

Seven Devils police want to talk to Schermerhorn’s husband about her disappearance.

“Schermerhorn may be in the company of Christopher Warren Meade driving a maroon 1999 Oldsmobile Bravada four door SUV, North Carolina registration YXR4449,“ a police press release said.

However, Meade remains missing.

“He is now a missing person,“ Assistant Chief Bobby Powell said.

According to Schermerhorn’s sisters, Meade was last seen about a week after “Dee” and her son disappeared. He stopped by his mother’s house in Bristol, VA and dropped off his step-son, Whittemore said.

That four year-old boy now lives with Schermerhorn’s sister. According to Whittemore, the child may hold the answer as to exactly what happened to his mother.

“He said that, ‘Daddy was playing with sticky tape with mommy and put her in a red and white blanket and drug her and put brush over here,‘“ Whittemore said about her nephew Gabe’s conversation with a child psychiatrist. “He says, ‘I ain’t never going to see mommy no more.‘“

According to Whittemore, Meade had a history of abusing her sister. In fact, the last time she saw her sister, she had two black eyes, Whittemore said. She fears her sister is no longer alive.

“It’s all pointing that she’s not,“ Whittemore said. “But there’s still hope. (There’s) still hope that she is.“

For now, Schermerhorn’s sisters cling to that hope and pray for a miracle.

“If anybody at all knows anything or even if they think they know, just please call the police,“ James said.

Anyone with any information about Schermerhorn or Meade’s whereabouts is asked to call the Seven Devils Public Safety Department at (828) 963-6760 or the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at (828) 294-2226.