Left: Investigators search wooded area in Bolivia, North Carolina (Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office). Right inset: Alba Wade (WECT).
A close friend of a mom of four and exotic French bulldog breeder who was mysteriously found dead in North Carolina’s woods in mid-July says she suspects foul play and homicide, as the two were expected to meet up but Alba Jo Doreen Wade never arrived. Yet since the tragic discovery was made, there have been no arrests and no official confirmation of how the 32-year-old died.
On the evening of July 16, the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office said, Wade was found dead “in a wooded area off Colonial Landing in Bolivia” after she was reported missing.
More than a dozen entities, including multiple fire departments and sheriff’s offices, joined in the search; photos showed a helicopter flying above the woods and four-wheelers on the ground.
Brunswick investigators did not say anything about whether they believed Wade was killed, only that she was “deceased” and that a probe of her death was “open” and “ongoing.” At the same time, they stated there was “no danger to the public.”
But Anastacia, a hairstylist and friend of Wade’s, told WECT that though she and Wade’s family are waiting on autopsy results and any “leads,” she suspects “[s]omebody knows what happened.”
During an on-camera interview at her salon, Anastacia revealed that she and her friend had planned to meet on July 15, which was one day before Wade was found dead. That meeting never occurred, and it’s haunting, Anastacia said.
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“I just didn’t make it in time,” she told WECT. “Before I got there she was gone. When I got there she was gone. So I’m just left with that. It’s just like this empty space. It’s a gray area of what happened.”
Alba Wade with a bulldog on a leash (WECT).
Wade’s family reportedly expects an autopsy to conclude in October, leaving several key questions about the lead-up to Wade’s disappearance and death unanswered in the meanwhile.
An obituary for Wade said that she grew up in Oklahoma, pursued her “dream of raising Exotic French Bulldogs” in North Carolina, and was a “loving mother” to four sons.
“Through this adventure she became very successful. She created her own logo, breed/bloodline and attended many dog shows throughout the states and taking home many first place trophies,” the obituary said. “Alba was a loving mother of four sons, a caring daughter and a stranger to no one. She was very ambitious and had a passion for shoes, dogs, tattoos, and all things fashion.”
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