{"id":3586,"date":"2026-06-20T14:04:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3586"},"modified":"2026-06-20T14:04:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:04:07","slug":"missing-raleigh-man-who-drove-to-hoke-county-is-found-dead-in-woods-deputies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3586","title":{"rendered":"Missing Raleigh man who drove to Hoke County is found dead in woods: Deputies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RAEFORD, N.C. (WNCN) \u2014 Deputies said a Raleigh man who was reported missing in Hoke County on Thursday was found dead on Friday near the area where he was last seen on Thursday.<\/p>

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Wesley Purcell, 35, drove a gray GMC Sierra SUV from Raleigh into Hoke County, a Hoke County Sheriff\u2019s Office news release said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Deputies on Thursday asked for the public\u2019s help to find Purcell after he was last seen in the North Hilltop Road\/North Duffie Road area in far southwest Hoke County near Scotland County.<\/p>\n

Authorities did not say when Purcell was last seen or when he drove down from Raleigh.<\/p>\n

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Wesley Purcell. Photo courtesy: The Hoke County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Friday, law enforcement agencies visited the area of North Hilltop Road\/North Duffie Road.<\/p>

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\u201cDuring the search in the woods, Wesley Purcell was located and pronounced deceased on scene,\u201d the news release said.<\/p>\n

The Hoke County Sheriff\u2019s Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations, and the Clinton Department of Public Safety were involved in the search on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation is still ongoing and is being investigated by the Hoke County Criminal Investigation Division,\u201d the Friday news release said.<\/p>

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RAEFORD, N.C. (WNCN) \u2014 Deputies said a Raleigh man who was reported missing in Hoke County on Thursday was found dead on Friday near the area where he was last seen on Thursday. Wesley Purcell, 35, drove a gray GMC Sierra SUV from Raleigh into Hoke County, a Hoke County Sheriff’s Office news release said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMissing Raleigh man who drove to Hoke County is found dead in woods: Deputies - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3586\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Missing Raleigh man who drove to Hoke County is found dead in woods: Deputies - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"RAEFORD, N.C. 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