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The State Bureau of Investigation, N.C. State Highway Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard have deployed air units to assist in the search for a Craven County man accused of killing his grandmother and stabbing a deputy, Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes said Tuesday.
Craven County Crime Stoppers and the U.S. Marshals have also issued a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Dominic Connelly.
On Nov. 4, authorities said Connelly was seen on a home surveillance camera in the area of N.C. 43 Highway and Mile Road in Vanceboro, North Carolina.
Hughes said that in prior sightings, Connelly had typically been seen wearing dark-colored clothing and seemed unprepared for the elements. However, in the Nov. 4 footage, Hughes said Connelly appears to have gotten a pair of desert sand colored coveralls.
“We do have reason to believe there might be people out there assisting him in some way, shape or form. Whether it’s money, food, water, clothing… he does have family in the area,” the sheriff said.
Authorities are continuing to ask the public to report any sightings of Connelly. He is considered armed and dangerous, officials say, and should not be approached.
Anyone who sees Connelly should call 911 immediately.
On Oct. 29, a deputy encountered Connelly in the bathroom of a Bojangles at the corner of Dawson Lane and Highway 43 in Vanceboro, North Carolina, according to a release. Connelly stabbed the deputy with a knife, officials said, before running off toward the Bailey Lane Apartments behind the Bojangles.
The sheriff’s office said they were initially looking for Connelly in connection to the death of his grandmother, Patricia Lopedote, 72, on Oct. 25.
Lopedote’s body was found inside a burning home on N.C. 101 Highway in Havelock, North Carolina, investigators said.
Authorities said Connelly set the fire and took off in Lopedote’s vehicle, which was found unoccupied in a New Bern, N.C., parking lot on Pine Tree Drive on Oct. 28.
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Justin Pryor, Caroline King
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