Left: Floyd Long (Mecklenburg County Jail). Right: Shaquina Harris (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department).
A 45-year-old North Carolina man has been accused of killing his girlfriend, who vanished more than a month ago, and concealing her body in a shallow grave.
Floyd Long faces charges of first-degree murder, failure to report a death and theft of a dog in connection with the death of Shaquina Harris. Harris was reported missing on July 13 after she was last seen around 10 a.m. July 2, when she left Atrium Hospital in Charlotte.
Detectives later reviewed Harris’ cellphone records, which indicated she returned to Long’s home after leaving the hospital. Her final phone call came shortly before noon on July 2, when she spoke with her grandmother. Investigators said her last known social media activity occurred around 4 p.m. the same day, and records showed her phone never left the area.
Harris’ relatives said her sudden silence was deeply out of character. As concern grew, they distributed flyers and searched near the place where she had last been seen.
“Ain’t sleeping, can’t sleep, cause we don’t know if you’re OK or if you’re not,” Lakisha Harris told local ABC affiliate WSOC at the time.
Her family had hoped the search would end with better news.
Long told police he came home around 5 p.m. and claimed Harris was no longer there. He said she had taken all of her belongings with her, including her dog, described as a long-haired Yorkie-Terrier mix.
RELATED: Controversial GOP Figure’s ‘Rape’ Tattoos Could Be Revealed
“He stated he sent Shaquina text asking her why she left the back door unlocked,” cops wrote.
Ring camera footage showed Long and another man walking out of the home, with Harris’ dog following behind. Investigators searched the home and found “several areas of suspected blood” and a firearm, the affidavit stated. They also found suspected blood in Long’s car.
Cops tracked down the other man, who they say provided the information needed to crack the case. He told them that he and Long got into his vehicle and the dog followed them inside. He said Long told him “the girl left the dog.” The man explained to cops that as they were driving around Long said he “did something bad” and needed his help “moving something,” per the affidavit.
Long allegedly asked him about his favorite places to fish and other remote areas. They stopped off the side of the road near some woods to use the restroom and Long seemed extremely “fascinated” with the area, the man told police.
The two drove back to Long’s home, and they went into a back bedroom. Long turned on the light and the man saw a woman matching Harris’ description dead on the bed. She “felt cold to the touch and had blood coming from her nose,” cops wrote.
The man took cops to the area where they stopped to use the restroom. With the help of a cadaver dog, cops located Harris’ skeletal remains in a wooded area off the road. Long’s cellphone data allegedly showed that he was in the area around 8:30 p.m. July 6.
Authorities have not released a cause of death or a potential motive. The dog has not been recovered.
Officers arrested Long on Saturday and took him to the Mecklenburg County Jail, where he remains without bond. His next court date was not immediately listed.
The post Man killed girlfriend after she returned from the hospital and spoke with her grandmother, cops say first appeared on Law & Crime.
