OFFICER'S PRIVILEGE: THE COL. GEORGE MARECEK STORY

"I Found Her!"

Others however, were able to recount Marecek's actions as he burst into the old general store at Fort Fisher. As one witness described the scene, Marecek had stormed into the building and collapsed to the floor, "hollering, 'I found her!' I found her!'"

Acting on Marecek's directions, the witness and another man took off down Davis Road to search for the woman's body, but found nothing. A short time later, Henry Beeker, a local public official, and Troy Hamilton, the chief of police for the town of Kure Beach, arrived in response to a radio call about a possible drowning at Fort Fisher.

According to court papers, Beeker later testified "they arrived at the general store and found (Marecek) on his hands and knees on the floor 'in pretty bad shape'." Beeker and the chief helped Marecek into a patrol car, and though he at first seemed disoriented, ultimately, Marecek led the pair to the spot on the beach where Viparet Marecek's naked body lay face down in the tide.

An autopsy would later determine the cause of death as drowning, but said that she had also suffered blunt force trauma. The medical examiner could not determine a precise time of death, but because there was evidence that sea creatures had nibbled away at her earlobes, lower lip and a spot just above the left eye, the medical examiner concluded that she had been "in the water for a period of time."