Carter Mountain, Charlottesville’s popular site for fall apple picking and barbecue, has become the scene of police investigations for the third time in a year as the latest in a string of strange happenings was reported this past Wednesday.
First was the discovery of skeletal remains found August 26 along Route 20 near the I-64 exit. A cyclist reported the remains, found in a creek, around 5:26pm, according to the Albemarle County Police Department. While the identity of the deceased has not yet been released, police say it’s a male who’s been dead roughly three to four weeks.
That discovery was not the only report troubling Carter Mountain last week, though. On the very same day that the remains were found, a missing person report was filed for a local Charlottesville resident. Debra Marie German, 59, was reported missing at 10:15pm August 26. She was last seen at 2pm when a cab dropped her off at the base of Carter Mountain. No information has been released so far about why she was on the mountain and what trail she might have taken, but police search efforts were focused around Route 53. Two officers on ATVs found her the next morning. She was taken to the hospital and she’s expected to be okay, according to Carter Johnson, the Albemarle County Police spokesperson.
German’s disappearance on Carter Mountain is the second in the past year. On July 12, 2014, Bonnie Santiago, 56, vanished and was last seen at 1am at Carter Mountain Orchard, where she was said to be visiting her boyfriend. Although authorities searched the area for two days, she was never found.
–Cara Salpini