Teen Found Dead in River Was Naked, Had Zip Tie on Wrist: Autopsy

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Media outlets report that the pathologist couldn’t give an exact cause of death for Kristen Stone, whose naked body was found in the Cape Fear River by a fisherman on Aug. 9. But the autopsy suggests she could have been smothered, suffocated or drowned.

Authorities charged 33-year-old Charles Cottingham with first-degree murder in Stone’s death. Court records indicate Cottingham was charged with sexually assaulting Stone a year earlier in Hoke County.

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Kristen Stone and her killer