Press Releases
| May 20, 2006 | |
| McDevitt Finds Body Believed to be Missing Teen | |
| Phillip Blankenship Charged with Her Murder | |
| "He was our prime suspect from the
start. Hard work and perseverance finally paid off, although this was not the
outcome I was hoping for. I was praying we would be wrong and she was only a
runaway." Those were the words of Burke County Sheriff John T. McDevitt, who located a female's body Friday evening, believed to be that of 17-year-old Olivia Nichole Seals. Her last known contact, Phillip Kyle Blankenship (right), 20, of 1842 Conley Road, Morganton, has been charged with her murder. |
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| The body, believed to be Olivia's because of the matching physical description, was reportedly located behind Blankenship's house by McDevitt and other detectives after a search of the man's home. The remains have been sent to Chapel Hill for an autopsy to determine a cause of death, and to establish a positive identification. | |
| According to investigators, Blankenship came to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Office in Hickory Friday morning to take a polygraph test concerning his knowledge of Olivia Seals' disappearance. | |
| "He failed miserably....as bad as you can fail the examination," said one investigator. | |
| After failing the test, investigators reportedly obtained consent from Blankenship to search his home. Inside Blankenship's residence, authorities reportedly found several items consistent with a struggle, including bloodstains. | |
| "I'm not at liberty to say what was located inside his home, so our case will not be compromised," McDevitt said. "But it was quite obvious that an act of violence had occurred." | |
| Upon finding the bloodstains and other evidence, McDevitt said he along with other detectives walked behind the residence, where the sheriff located human remains about sixty yards from Blankenship's home in a pile of debris. | |
| Blankenship was immediately arrested and charged with murder after the find, according to detectives. | |
| McDevitt would not comment on a possible cause of death. | |
| Olivia (right), of 3595 Seals Road, Morganton was reported missing
by her father, Hugh "Nick" Seals, on May 9th. McDevitt said the disappearance of the teen was deemed suspicious from the onset, since she did not have her purse or cell phone with her. Those items were allegedly given to Olivia's father by Blankenship a few days after her disappearance. Blankenship reportedly told Nick Seals that Olivia had left the purse and cell phone inside his truck. |
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| According to Burke County detectives, Blankenship told them that he had dropped Olivia off on the dirt road that leads to her residence, around 2 AM on May 8th. | |
| But Olivia never made it home, said Nick Seals. | |
| "We caught Phillip Blankenship in lie after lie during his initial interview, just after Olivia's disappearance," said the sheriff. "Those lies were ultimately his downfall." | |
| Authorities believe that shortly after Olivia was reported missing, Blankenship initiated bogus text messages to her father, trying to make him believe that Olivia was contacting him to say she was in Asheville on her own accord. | |
| Those text messages, which Nick Seals states were in direct contrast to the way Olivia normally sent text messages to him, only added to the suspicion that the girl was in danger. Those suspicions were compounded when Blankenship brought him Olivia's cell phone and purse. | |
| McDevitt said officials searched around the clock this past week to locate the teen. On Monday, personnel with Burke County Emergency Management walked a wooded area near Olivia's home with tracking dogs, but did not locate any sign of her. | |
| Detectives and emergency personnel, along with a helicopter from the North Carolina Highway Patrol, also searched the Muddy Creek area in vain after receiving a tip. | |
| Authorities with the Sheriff's Office and N.C. State Bureau of Investigation reportedly interviewed more than thirty persons during the investigation. Also assisting in the case was an investigator with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. | |
| Blankenship was jailed Friday night in the Burke County Jail under no bond after a warrant for murder was served on him. He will have a first court appearance on Monday. | |
| Authorities would not speculate on a possible motive for Olivia Seals' murder. | |
| "The only thing I can tell you is that Olivia has a family who is devastated after receiving the worst possible news any family can receive," McDevitt said. "I hope that the reasons why a 17-year-old girl's life was snuffed out so callously will eventually be revealed." | |
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