A Burke County jury needed about 40 minutes to find a convicted sex offender guilty of sex crimes against a child victim on Thursday. 45-year-old Kurt Allen Corey of Lenoir, was sentenced to life in prison without parole by the Honorable W.Robert Bell, Superior Court Judge from Mecklenburg County. Corey was also convicted of sexual offenses in Michigan in January 2000. Isaac Propst led the investigation for the Burke County Sheriff's Office with assistance from Detective Shelly Hartley of the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office and the Robin's Nest Child Advocacy Center in Lenoir. David Swanson prosecuted the case for the 25th District Attorney's Office.

A Lenoir woman reported missing earlier this week has been located. 32-year-old Carrie Elizabeth Gross was found late Wednesday and is "fine", according to a press release issued by the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office. The Caldwell Sheriff's Office thanks all citizens who shared her photo and called the department with information. The report states no further information regarding the incident will be released.

A Caldwell County man, who was awaiting trial on murder charges from November 2015, was found unresponsive in his cell at Raleigh's Central Prison just after midnight Thursday. According to a press release from the NC Department of Public Safety, 41-year-old Donnie Ward was later declared dead, the result of an apparent suicide. Ward was being held as a safekeeper, pre-trial detainee. The State Capitol Police Department is investigating.