RALEIGH, N.C. — Two people have been charged in the death of a pregnant woman whose body was found inside a suitcase along the Neuse River, Wake County Sheriff's Office confirmed.
WNCN reports the state medical examiner's office identified the body in the suitcase as 28-year-old Brittany Simone Smith. She was reported missing by family members last week.
Thomas Clayton Johnson, 37, and Emmalei Grace Trevathan, 24, were arrested by Wake County Sheriff's Office during a traffic stop Wednesday in Raleigh. They both face charges of murder, murder of an unborn child, and concealment of a body.
Johnson and Trevathan are being held at the Wake County Detention Center.
The search for Smith began over the weekend, and crews found her body in the suitcase Monday off Allen Road, west of the Neuse River.
“It’s safe to say that this is no accident,” Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker said.
Shortly after the body was found, deputies searched a home in Wendell.
“I offered to let them in because I had nothing to hide,” said Dale Williams, a friend of Smith's.
Williams told WNCN Smith and her boyfriend, Cody Page, had been living in a tent for months outside his home.
“I didn’t have the means to put her up inside,” said Williams of Smith. “This certainly beats living under a bridge.”
Williams said when Smith went missing, Page was beside himself.
“Cody loved her very much,” said Williams.
Page was questioned by deputies after Smith's disappearance, but he wasn't considered a suspect.