Body found behind abandoned store in Graham, sheriff says

A body was found in the woods behind an abandoned convenience store at South NC 87 and Boywood Road in Graham, putting the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office in charge of a death investigation that still has no identification or cause of death.

Deputies were dispatched at about 3:05 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, after a caller reported seeing a body in the wooded area behind the store, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators said the remains appeared to have been at the location for several days, and they believe the body is male.

The body was recovered from the scene and sent to the Alamance County Medical Examiner’s Office for identification and for a determination of how the person died. The sheriff’s office has not released the person’s name, age or any other identifying details, and no immediate cause of death has been announced.

Officials also said there are no missing persons reports connected to the case so far. Investigators do not believe the victim was unhoused, narrowing one of the early questions that often arises in wooded-area deaths near abandoned properties.

The case now turns to the medical examiner’s findings and the work of investigators who are trying to piece together how long the body had been there and what led to the death. The abandoned store at the intersection of South NC 87 and Boywood Road remains central to the inquiry, both because of where the body was found and because the scene may help establish the timeline.

Terry S. Johnson, who has served as Alamance County sheriff since 2002, is the county’s chief law enforcement officer and leads the office handling the investigation. For residents in and around Graham, the case leaves open the most basic questions: who the person was, how the person died, and whether anything at the site or nearby roads can help investigators determine what happened. The sheriff’s office said the investigation remains active.