Two bodies

discovered

LUMBERTON — Two female bodies were found Tuesday at locations near each other and authorities are investigating the deaths as suspicious. But Lumberton police Capt. Terry Parker said it’s not known if the two incidents are related.

One body was found at a home on the 500 block of Peachtree Street, and the second was found about a block away on the 700 block of East Fifth Street, Parker said.

The State Bureau of Investigation is assisting Lumberton police.

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Judge to hear

gag order

A South Carolina judge expects to hold a hearing May 9 on a motion filed by The Fayetteville Observer seeking to dissolve a gag order in the child sex case involving Fayetteville car dealer Mike Lallier, the Observer’s lawyer said Tuesday.

The observer filed the motion Jan. 12, but it has yet to be heard because Roger E. Henderson — chief administrative judge for South Carolina’s 4th Judicial Circuit — has been ill.

Henderson filed the gag order Sept. 19, about two weeks after Lallier was charged with molesting a 15-year-old boy during a NASCAR race weekend at the Darlington Raceway.

Lallier, co-owner of Reed-Lallier Chevrolet on Raeford Road, has been free on bail almost since his arrest.

***

Five arrested

on drug charges

WHITEVILLE — A month-long drug investigation in eastern Columbus has ended with the arrest of five people and the recovery of drugs, guns, cash and stolen property.

During March and April, undercover officers with the Columbus County sheriff’s Vice-Narcotics Division made drug buys at four different addresses, according to Michelle Tatum of the sheriff’s office.

Officers executed search warrants on the homes April 13, taking five people into custody.

Detectives seized currency, two long weapons, one handgun, a stolen Playstation 4 gaming system, drug paraphernalia, cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, Methadone tablets, Buprenorphine Hydrochloride tablets, and Clonazepam tablets, Tatum said.

***

State DOT to

close bridge

Motorists who use Beulah Church Road for traveling are being asked to use an alternate route while the North Carolina Department of Transportation replaces a bridge.

Karen Collette, division engineer, released a statement Monday that says the bridge on Beulah Church Road that crosses over Ten Mile Swamp, north of Turkey, will be closed May 1 to Sept. 1.

The bridge, which is located just north of Beulah Baptist Church, was built in 1964 and is now considered structurally deficient and functionally obsolete.

From staff and wire reports.

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