WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Loved ones of a missing Winston-Salem man cling to hope that their loved one will be found safe. No one has seen 30-year-old TK Burton in nearly two months.
Family friend, Emily Rutherford, told WFMY News 2's Nixon Norman that investigators could be closing in on an answer.
Those closest to Burton are left wondering... how he could just disappear?
"Honestly, we really don't know. We don't have answers," Rutherford said.
She said she's known Burton and his wife Jacqueline Guzman for a decade.
She, along with Guzman said, it's not like burton to just not come home.
"One moment you think, 'okay, we really want him home,' but at the same time, they [his family] want answers," Rutherford said.
Answers that could be closer than they think following an investigation at Rob Cruthis Road in Archdale on Monday, September 16.
The Randolph County Sheriff's Office announced that 31-year-old Beau Martin was charged with concealing a death.
That same day, Guzman received a call from detectives asking for photos of Burton's tattoos so that they could be put into a database for medical examiners.
"The detective called her Monday and asked to send pictures [of Burton's tattoos] so they could upload it to the database. Just because they had found where he might could be," Rutherford said.
She said between the detective's request for those photos and Burton's last known location being in Randolph County according to investigators, she fears the dots could be connecting.
To be clear, there is no confirmation that the body found in Archdale is in fact Burton's. But Rutherford feels for Guzman, who's still missing her high school sweetheart.
"They were just really good friends and they just connected and it's been what? 14 years now? So like, it's been a long time and now they have a beautiful son," Rutherford said.
She said their 17-month-old son has been reaching milestones since Burton's disappearance, making things even harder for Guzman.
"It's been very hard for her to just say, 'wow, he can't— TK can't witness this [his son's milestones]," Rutherford said.
RCSO was not able to give WFMY News 2 an update on the identity of the body found in Archdale. They said it could take the state up to 30 days to confirm who it actually was.