A pregnant woman who made headlines when she went missing just before her scheduled C-section has been found safe and still pregnant, according to police in North Carolina.
Carrie Bradshaw Crowther, 49, was taken to a Boone-area hospital for observation on Monday after Watauga County deputies found her van on a state highway near Boone,
according to the Charlotte Observer. Crowther's ATM card had been used at a CVS pharmacy in Boone, leading authorities to the location.
Crowther's family members reported her missing last week and feared for her safety because she was about to give birth. She was spotted last Wednesday at a Statesville gas station, but didn't appear to be distressed in photos, said authorities.
"(Watauga County deputies) called and (I) said a suspicious woman had come in, but she didn't look exactly like her picture online," CVS clerk Eva Clause told
WSOC-TV. "She had dark hair and looked about the same age but didn't look pregnant or anything like that."
Bradshaw-Crowther's sister Amy said the family was going to meet Crowther.
Meanwhile police in Salisbury, where the women went missing, said they had questions about where she had been over the past week.
Lauren Lusk, Crowther's daughter, told
WRAL-TV that before her mother was found on Monday that she was concerned for her mother's safety.
"She cannot give natural birth, and that's why our family is so worried," said Lusk. "If she does go into labor, she won't make it. …. We are scared. We miss her. We want to know she's OK."
Lusk told
NBC News that she believed her mother was looking forward to the birth.
"She seemed nervous obviously, but more towards the end of the pregnancy, she started getting happier about it. The last few weeks, she was really excited," said Lusk.
Salisbury Police Capt. Shelia Lingle said authorities don't believe foul play was involved in Crowther's disappearance.
"She wasn't forcibly taken and wasn't kidnapped. She left on her own accord," said Lingle.
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