Ernestine Battle, a 50-year-old African-American woman, was reported missing in February 2008. Her remains were discovered on March 14, 2008, by a farmer near Seven Bridges Road in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Due to the severe decomposition of her body, the medical examiner was unable to determine the exact cause of death. Battle was one of several African-American women who went missing and were later found dead in the area, leading authorities to suspect the presence of a serial
killer.
Battle had previously worked for a cable company and had an interest in makeup and fashion. Later in life, she turned to prostitution to support her drug habit. Her disappearance and subsequent death fit a disturbing pattern of similar cases in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where multiple African-American women with histories of drug use and prostitution were found dead under mysterious circumstances. The victims were often discovered in rural areas, particularly near Seven Bridges Road.
Law enforcement officials investigated the possibility of a serial killer targeting these women. While one man, Antwan Maurice Pittman, was arrested and convicted for the murder of another victim, Taraha Nicholson, the deaths of Battle and several other women remain officially unsolved. Authorities have considered Pittman a strong person of interest in multiple cases, but no definitive evidence has linked him to Battle’s death. The investigation into these cases has involved local, state, and federal authorities, but the identity of the perpetrator responsible for Battle’s death remains unknown.
