Charlotte police said they have found the man named “Teddy” who was being sought for questioning in reference to Nikki McPhatter’s disappearance.
The man, whose full name was not released, “is cooperating fully with detectives and at this time he is being considered a witness in this case,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said in a statement Friday.
A CMPD spokesman said detectives do not consider “Teddy” a “suspect” or “person of interest.”
Police earlier this week said they now suspect foul play in McPhatter’s disappearance, and the case is being handled by homicide.
McPhatter, a 30-year-old US Airways flight attendant, was last heard from on May 6, when she called a friend on her cellphone to say her car had run out of gas in Columbia. The friend told police she called McPhatter back but got no answer.
That same day, a surveillance camera at a Wachovia bank branch on Farrow Road in Columbia showed two men trying unsuccessfully to use McPhatter’s bankcard.
Police described the two men as “subjects of interest.”
Police say investigators continue to receive tips from people who think they may have seen McPhatter’s car – a 2003 black Honda Accord, N.C. license plate “PHATTAH” — in the Charlotte area.
Anyone with information about McPhatter or the location of her car is asked to call a 24-hour hotline police established for the case at 704-336-6034.
McPhatter is African American, 5 feet 5 and 150 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes.
