Left: Floyd Long (Mecklenburg County Jail). Right: Shaquina Harris (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department).
In North Carolina, authorities have charged a man, aged 45, with the murder of his girlfriend, whose absence stretched to over a month before her body was discovered in a shallow grave.
Floyd Long faces charges including first-degree murder, failing to report a death, and theft of a dog in connection with the tragic death of Shaquina Harris. Harris was declared missing on July 13, having last been spotted leaving Atrium Hospital in Charlotte at around 10 a.m. on July 2. For further details, a click here provides additional context on the final sighting.
Investigators unearthed compelling evidence from Harris’ cellphone records, revealing a return to Long’s residence. Her final call, preceding her disappearance, was to her grandmother, placed shortly before noon on the same day. Notably, her last engagement on social media surfaced at approximately 4 p.m. Without leaving the vicinity, her cellphone data corroborated her presence near the location.
Family members, perplexed by Harris’ sudden silence, noted her normally consistent communication. Driven by urgency, they distributed flyers and canvassed the vicinity of her last known whereabouts, determined to find her.
“Ain’t sleeping, can’t sleep, cause we don’t know if you’re OK or if you’re not,” Lakisha Harris told local ABC affiliate WSOC at the time.
They were hoping for a happier resolution.
Long told cops that he returned home around 5 p.m., but Shaquina Harris was not there. He claimed that she had taken all of her belongings, including her dog, which is a long-haired Yorkie-Terrier mix.
“He stated he sent Shaquina text asking her why she left the back door unlocked,” cops wrote.
Ring camera footage showed Long and another man walking out of the home, with Harris’ dog following behind. Investigators searched the home and found “several areas of suspected blood” and a firearm, the affidavit stated. They also found suspected blood in Long’s car.
Cops tracked down the other man, who they say provided the information needed to crack the case. He told them that he and Long got into his vehicle and the dog followed them inside. He said Long told him “the girl left the dog.” The man explained to cops that as they were driving around Long said he “did something bad” and needed his help “moving something,” per the affidavit.
Long allegedly asked him about his favorite places to fish and other remote areas. They stopped off the side of the road near some woods to use the restroom and Long seemed extremely “fascinated” with the area, the man told police.
The two drove back to Long’s home, and they went into a back bedroom. Long turned on the light and the man saw a woman matching Harris’ description dead on the bed. She “felt cold to the touch and had blood coming from her nose,” cops wrote.
The man took cops to the area where they stopped to use the restroom. With the help of a cadaver dog, cops located Harris’ skeletal remains in a wooded area off the road. Long’s cellphone data allegedly showed that he was in the area around 8:30 p.m. July 6.
Authorities have not released a cause of death or a potential motive. The dog has not been recovered.
Officers arrested Long on Saturday and took him to the Mecklenburg County Jail, where he remains without bond. His next court date was not immediately listed.
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