Missing NC woman found in Va. after 200-mile walk

[December 13, 2010]  FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Authorities say a North Carolina woman reported missing in September walked 200 miles before she turned up at a Virginia shelter.

The Fayetteville Observer reported that 56-year-old Wilma Edwards of Fayetteville turned up last week in Richmond, Va. Her information was found in a database of missing people, and she told authorities she had traveled to the shelter on foot.

Cumberland County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said Edwards is known by many as "Miss Betty" and frequently takes long walks around Fayetteville with a white bucket that she sits on when she gets tired.

Edwards had last been seen Sept. 19.

Tanna said Edwards did not have needed medications and did not use her bank account during her disappearance. Her family says she disappeared once before, turning up in New York.

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Information from: The Fayetteville Observer, http://www.fayobserver.com/

[Associated Press]

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