Family: Woman found injured on highway died Monday

LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — Police are following leads to track down the person who attacked a woman and left her in the middle of a highway.

The director of neurosurgery at the hospital told family members that Sherry Tobeler, 54, has no brain activity Monday morning.

On Monday afternoon, the family said Tobeler had died.

Eyewitness News learned new details about the woman Lincoln County deputies said was left for dead in the middle of Highway 150 near Mack Ballard on Halloween Night.

Channel 9 spoke with the victim's family and the neighbor who called for help.

Alyssa Dearborn said she knew something was terribly wrong early Friday morning when she heard her dogs barking around 3 a.m.

"I realized that something was going on, I could hear car doors slamming, there was yelling going on," she said.

Dearborn and a friend walked outside and noticed a woman lying in the middle of the road. She immediately dialed 911.

"She was lying on her back, her knees were bent up," she said.

Investigators said Tobeler was alert when they arrived. She told them she had gotten into an argument with her husband around 9 p.m. that night and left her home.

Police said five hours later Tobeler was seen at a Denver convenience store about 2 miles away from her home.

Then an hour later she was found lying on the highway; her Chevy Silverado pickup truck was gone.

On Sunday, Tobeler's family members returned to the intersection, knocking on doors and searching for answers.

And for the first time on Sunday Tobeler's family met with the woman who dialed 911 and rushed to her aid.

Tobeler was driving a 2001 Chevy Silverado the night she was found. It is a two-door extended cab that is champagne colored. The license plate number is RNW2562.

Eyewitness News spoke with Tobeler's family and the woman who found her and dialed 911.

"For somebody to just dump a human being out in the middle of nowhere and leave them for dead, that person needs to be caught," said Dearborn.

"On one hand we have a sister that's in a coma and on the other hand we have so many unanswered questions," says Charlie Malcolm, the victim's brother.

Chopper 9 flew over as authorities searched a pond Monday afternoon in Lincoln County in connection with the case.

Sheriff's deputies said that Chopper 9 helped them by spotting the vehicle in the pond which helped them locate the truck.

WSOC