Friends who found body, say missing woman's fiance committed suicide

Police reports released Monday are now shedding more light on the disappearance of 30-year-old Dara Watson, of Mount Pleasant, and the death of her fiance' 34-year-old David Hedrick.

Hedrick's body was found Friday, in the home he shared with Watson on North Creek Drive.

According to reports, when Hedrick's body was discovered Friday afternoon, there was a 9-mm handgun on a counter in the home. A friend says he placed the gun there when asked to secure the weapon by a 911 operator.

Charles Gilbert, of James Island, was one of the men who discovered Hedrick. The gun was on Hedrick's chest. Gilbert says that a 911 operator instructed him to secure the gun.

Reports say that Hedrick was on his back, on a bed and a pool of blood was forming around his head. Reports indicate that his arms were in a clinching manor near his upper chest.

"It was a horrible, horrible scene," Gilbert said. "I held his hand until he died."

Patrick O'Neil, of Mount Pleasant, was outside Hedrick's home Friday, when he heard a gun shot. He says he and Gilbert forced their way into the home, where they found Hedrick dead.

O'Neil describes Hedrick as a "good guy;" likening him to a boy scout.

"This is literally the last person that you would think that this would happen to. I know it is cliched, but it really is the last people. I just couldn't believe it," O'Neil said.

According to the Charleston County Coroner's Office. Hedrick's official cause of death is a gunshot wound to the head.  They have yet to rule it a suicide.  The investigation continues.

Watson was last seen Monday, February 6, 2012 in Boone, North Carolina, where her parents live. Watson's mother told police that she had not heard from Dara at noon, when Watson and Hedrick left Boone to return to Mount Pleasant. She was reported missing Friday.

According to reports, Hedrick told police, when contacted, that he and Watson had an argument Monday and had not heard from her since Tuesday.

The search for Watson was suspended Sunday after multiple agencies roamed the woods surrounding the area where Watson's burnt SUV was found in the Francis Marion Forest. Watson's parents arrived at the search site around 2:00 Sunday afternoon.

Charleston County Sheriff deputies lead the investigation into the whereabouts of the missing Mount Pleasant woman. Mount Pleasant police, the Department of Natural Resources officers, forensic service officials and search dogs are on foot in the Francis Marion National Forest. The final search crew of the day entered the woods around 2:00 p.m.

According to the couple's online registry, it was only 273 days until they were to marry in the South Pacific.

The Charleston County Coroner did not release Hedrick's official cause of death, instead saying it is under investigation, but putting an urgency on investigators to find Watson.

"At this point it's an active investigation and we're really trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together," Chief Harry Sewell of the Mount Pleasant Police said. "Nothing is more important that this young lady's life."

Watson was last seen on Monday in Boone, NC by her mother. A spokesperson for the Charleston County Sheriff's Department said her 2006 silver GMC Envoy was found "badly burnt" about 100 yards from Halfway Creek Road on Tuesday. It took several days to identify the car because of the severity of the burns.

Police said Watson's cell phone was last used on Wednesday, near Venning Road in Mt. Pleasant. A text was sent to Watson's boss saying she was fine.

After Hedrick was found and pronounced dead at their Rivertowne subdivision home on Friday afternoon, Mt. Pleasant police released an official missing person's report for Watson.