IHIh ■^Morrisville &. Preston
The Proaress
■ Published Monthly
Thief steals
car, coffin,
cadaver
The Morrisville police department
has received national attention over
the theft of a car carrying a casket
with a body in it.
Det. Danny Ennis, the investigat
ing officer, said he has had calls
from people all over the country,
including a newspaper in Ohio and
a friend in Florida, who saw it on
the evening news.
“Every local TV station and local
newspaper has called at least once,
and some more than that,” Chief
Robert Whitesell said.
“Everybody's under impression it
was a hearse, but it was just a sta
tion wagon,” he said.
The car was stolen on Dec. 30
from Henry Mobley, who was dri
ving the car for Professional
Mortuary Services of Durham.
Mobley was getting gas at the
Amoco convenience store at 960
Airport Boulevard. The suspect
asked for directions before Mobley
went into the store, leaving the keys
in the car.
“Our best guess is he didn’t know
what was in the car when he took
it,” Whitesell said. “I guess he
found out shortly thereafter and
decided to part company with it.”
Ennis said the suspect dumped the
casket into the middle of Pettigrew
Street in Durham.
The car has not yet been found.
“I’m sure it’s sitting in a parking
lot somewhere over in Durham,”
Ennis said. He and another officer
grid searched about a three-block
area with no luck last week.
“Everybody calls and says have
we found the hearse,” he added. “It
would have been easier to find a
hearse. It’s just a Ford Taurus sta
tion wagon.”
“It’s one of othe most unusual
things I’ve run across,” Whitesell
said. “I’ve never been involved with
anybody stealing a body.”
Indecent
zipper leads
to arrest
A Durham man was arrested on
several counts of breaking and
entering and larceny after drawing
attention to himself by flashing an
employee at the Village Cleaners at
N.C. 54 and the Morrisville
Parkway.
According to Morrisville police
reports, Toby Lee Blackmon went
into the Village Cleaners and asked
an employee if she could repair the
zipper on his pants. She looked at
the zipper and saw more than she
wanted to. She told him to get out,
and he left.
The woman called the police, after
getting the license number of the
car, and he was pulled over on
Crabtree Crossing Parkway, with a
pillowcase full of stolen goods on
the front seat.
Morrisville police charged
Blackmon with indecent exposure,
possession of a firearm by a con
victed felon, and no driver’s license.
Cary authorities charged him with
breaking, entering and larceny, and
the Wake County Sheriff’s
Department also charged him with
breaking, entering and larceny.
Only about half of the stolen
items, mostly jewelry, have been
identified, so other charges are still
pending against Blackmon.
Three officers
promoted
Morrisville Police Chief Robert
Whitesell promoted Corporal J. W.
Cheek and Corporal Elena Sanchez
to the rank of sergeant and
Detective investigator D. D. Ennis
to sergeant of investigations, effec
tive Jan. 30.
“All three are exceptional employ
ees,” Whitesell said. “They have
done, and I know will continue to
do whatever is asked of them. They
have that dedication to the depart
ment and to the town. They have
been real assets to the department.
I’ve got all the confidence in the
world in the job I know they’re
gonna do.”
Morrisville, NC
January 28, t998
Phctto by Mary Beth Phillips
Ernest Dollar sits next to what could be a Confederate rifle pit left from the Battle of Morrisville.
Local man resurrects
the Battle of Morrisville
Civil War buff wants historical marker
By Mary Beth Phillips
Staff Writer
It could be a rifle pit used in the Civil War, or it
could be a hole, left by a fallen tree.
An official from the North Carolina Department
of Archaeology was expected to make a ruling this
week.
If the ruling is what he hopes, it will help Ernest
Dollar in his quest for a state historical marker, to
be placed at the road near the site, off Aviation
Parkway near the Morrisville Town Hall.
Dollar, 28, has found what he believes are three to
six Confederate rifle pits in a semi-circle where
research indicates the battle took place—that is,
three good ones and three questionable ones. He
has also found some that appear to be Union soldier
rifle pits in a location that would suggest battle
lines.
He recently re-examined the holes, located on the
property of Hans Stadelmaier, and was relieved that
a sewer line will be built in the creek bed, away
from the historic site. But Dollar is still concerned
that development in a booming town will soon
cover the steeds of history that remain.
His job at Measurements, Inc., pays the bills, but
after hours Dollar immerses himself in what he
really loves—history, especially Civil War history.
He conducts tours at the Bennett Place in Durham,
where Confederate General Joe Johnston surren
dered to William Tecumseh Sherman, which offi-
‘This history has been
overlooked for so long.
That’s one reason why
Morrisville had no
attention until now. ’
—Ernest Dollar,
Civil War butf
cially ended the War of Northern Aggression.
Lately, he has had another after-hours activity—
conducting talks on the Battle of Morrisville for
groups ranging from the Sons of Confederate
Soldiers to the Morrisville Rotary Club.
Dollar is arguably the most well-informed person
in the world on the Battle of Morrisville.
“The Internet has been a good source of informa
tion, but nothing beats good old-fashioned slogging
through library files,” he said.
A committee of 10 history professors from across
North Carolina will meet in April and consider the
evidence.
See CIVIL WAR, page 2
Southport office park grows up
By Mary Beth Phillips
Staff Writer
When developers of Southport
office park off of Aviation Parkway
broke ground in 1988, they planned
to build one building a year.
This year they are building four—
as they reach their lO-year anniver
sary, they plan to finish their 15th
building in early 1999.
The original concept was flex
buildings, buildings which can be
upfitted to provide warehouse
space, laboratory space, or office
space. This idea was understand
able, considering the proximity to
the Raleigh-Durham International
Airport.
But Mitch Adams, project manag
er for Southport, discovered that
tenants were more interested in
office space. And he said the driving
force behind the success of the
development has not been the air
port, but the access to 1-40. Without
that access, “I’d be on building 5
instead of 15 today,” he said.
“From Morrisville, you can do
business in any part of the
Triangle,” Adams said, “1-40 is that
link that allows them to reach all
parts of the Triangle.”
Through the past 10 years, the
buildings have evolved from siding
with brick trim to a modern concrete
More burgers,
dogs and trucks
coming to town
By Mary Beth Phillips
Staff Writer
There will soon be two more fast
food options in Morrisville, after the
board of commissioners Monday
night approved plans for Burger
King and The Dog House.
The board also approved plans for
a trucking facility, an office building
and a landscaping company at the
meeting.
Burger King will be located on
1.74 acres at the comer of Airport
Boulevard and the western entrance
to Prime Outlets Mall. After a sug
gestion by Commissioner C. T.
Moore, the board asked the develop
er to provide 16 outside trash cans at
the site. The other conditions on the
approval were that the company
have no irrigation meters and that
the trash cans not be cleaned over
storm drains.
The Dog House will be located on
0.65 acres at the corner of Airport
Boulevard and Waldron Court, next
to the Tire King. The commissioners
asked that the developer increase
the entrance to 35 feet to provide for
access by fire tmeks, that the exteri
or of the building be changed from
stucco to Alpine white boards, that
the sign on the building be changed
so it would not stick out, that no irri
gation meters would be allowed,
and that nine trash cans be provided,
See MORE, page 2
Town Board starts
road project fund
By Mary Beth Phillips
Staff Writer
The Morrisville Board of
Commissioners agreed informally at
a work session Saturday to start set
ting aside funds to assist the NC
Department of Transportation with
road-building projects, especially
the segment of Crabtree Crossing
from its end near Morrisville
Parkway to the Morrisville-
Carpenter Road.
Obtaining rights of way for the
new road is also a priority, commis
sioners said, although plans nearly
completed by the town’s consulting
engineers, Bass, Nixon & Kennedy,
• are e.-'pected to sir at the Federal
Emergency Management
Administration office waiting for
approval for another six to nine
months. FT3MA must make a flood
analysis and a flood map amend
ment before the road can be built.
The area includes Crabtree Creek
and a marshy area created by the rail
road line, which acts as a dqm, back
ing up the water. It will be expensive
to put culverts in, and even more
expensive to build a bridge.
But the traffic situation makes the
connector street a high priority with
commissioners.
‘With the
situation traffic-
wise, the town
would be crazy not
to go out and get
what funds they
could... ’
—C.T. Moore,
Morrisville Commissioner
“With the situation traffic-wise,
the town would be crazy not to go
out and get what funds they could
get from the developers and the state
right now, so they could get this
design, and pitch in the funds and
build that and get it through there
right now,” said Commissioner C.T.
Moore.
“If you don’t build it now, if you
put it down as a three-year capital
project, you’re going to lose it. It
See MORRISVILLE, page 2
Golf club thefts increase
in Preston subdivision
Cary police are stumped by a
series of golf club thefts in Preston,
and they warn residents not to leave
their garages or their cars unlocked.
Two more thefts occurred in
January, Lt. Steve Lee reported.
Between Jan. 12 and 16 on Old
Pros Way about $1,650 worth of
golf equipment was taken from a
garage, and between Jan. 15 and 16
on Hogans Valley Way three golf
clubs worth $900 were taken, also
from a garage.
In mid-December, golf clubs were
taken from seven homes in another
part of Preston, with a total value of
$13,785.
“The majority of thefts are from
unlocked cars and unlocked
garages,” Lee said.
Golf club theft is difficult to solve,
he added. “There is nothing trace
able, unless the owner etches a num
ber in them, which they’re not going
to do. It’s a matter of guesswork as
much as anything, unless there is
something unique.”
The police department has been in
contact with Play it Again, Sports
and employees there are trying to
keep a lookout for stolen clubs.
But “they’ve got outlets in other
states, too,” Lee added. And golf
clubs can be pawned at any pawn
shop.
Chris Davis of the records depart
ment at the Cary Police Department
said there were at least five golf club
thefts within half a mile of the
recent thefts in the Preston area dur
ing 1998. Other thefts have been
reported in other parts of Preston
and in other subdivisions in Cary.
But the thieves seem to hit Preston
more than any other subdivision, he
said.
Lee said he does not necessarily
think the thieves are teenagers,
although that was his first reaction
when the thefts started last year.
“We have no bonafide suspects at
this time,” Lee added.
Bulk Rate
Postage Paid
Morrisville, NC
Permit #23
Easy access to 1-40 and Raleigh-Durham Airport has been a boon to
Southport Business Park.
wall with a simple design to fancy
brick office buildings, with ceramic
tile in the bathrooms and all the
bells and whistles. The first office
See SOUTHPORT, page 6
Delivered expressly to the residents
of Morrisville and Preston