Car stuck in mud held a body, a 2-year-old and an ‘intoxicated’ man, NC cops say

Deputies responding to a 911 call encountered a baffling scene in rural southeastern North Carolina: A stalled car occupied by a dead driver, a toddler and an intoxicated man, investigators said.

The vehicle was discovered Friday, July 18, after someone reported “a disturbance” on a dirt road north of Clarkton, the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office said in a July 21 news release.

“Deputies observed a female later identified as Ashanta Hill ... in the driver seat of the vehicle unresponsive. Also, located in the vehicle was (a man) and a 2-year-old child in the back,” the sheriff’s office said.

“The vehicle had been missing since the night before and appeared to be stuck in the mud. (The man) was assaulted by family members at the scene prior to law enforcement arrival. He appeared to be intoxicated.”

The child “was safe and unharmed,” officials said. 

Details of how the 35-year-old Hill died and why the man was attacked were not released.

An autopsy was scheduled to be performed on Hill, officials said.

A Facebook page for Hill reports she is from Clarkton but lived about 10 miles north in Elizabethtown. 

Clarkton is about a 110-mile drive south from Raleigh.

This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Car stuck in mud held a body, a 2-year-old and an ‘intoxicated’ man, NC cops say."