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North Carolina inmate confesses to fatal 1989 hit-and-run while he was on prison work release

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North Carolina inmate confesses to fatal 1989 hit-and-run while he was on prison work release


Just four days after Christmas in 1989, 52-year-old mother Ruth Buchanan was crossing a street in Charlotte, North Carolina, after leaving a department store with a friend when she was hit by a driver who sped through a red light. 

“Her body landed on the opposite side of the intersection and that vehicle, according to witnesses, didn’t stop, didn’t render aid and continued to flee the scene,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Sgt. Gavin Jackson of the Major Crash Unit said in a video released by police Friday. 

Buchanan died in a hospital the next day. 

Decades after the case went cold and was reopened with the help of DNA technology, Buchanan’s killer, Herbert Stanback, now 68, confessed to the 35-year-old crime.

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Although witnesses got a vehicle description and a license plate number, the Mercedes it was linked to turned out to have had its tag stolen and wasn’t the car that hit Buchanan. 

Herbert Stanback confessed this year to driving away after hitting Ruth Buchanan with his car in 1989 while he was on work release from prison.  (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department )

Three days later, on New Year’s Day 1990, investigators found a black Mitsubishi parked at a Comfort Inn with damage that matched the description of the suspect’s vehicle, Jackson said. 

Investigators confirmed it was the suspect’s vehicle and found personal items, including a marijuana cigarette, inside. 

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After a failed tip in the case in 2022, it was reopened, and DNA from the cigarette was tested and matched Herbert Stanback, who was already in custody at the Department of Adult Corrections in North Carolina on an unrelated charge. 

The stolen car Stanback allegedly drove when he hit Buchanan was found days after the crime at a motel in Charlotte.  (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department; WSOC-TV)

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Records showed Stanback had been in custody at a Charlotte prison that no longer exists. 

In his second interview with investigators in March, Stanback made a “full confession,” Jackson said. 

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“Interestingly, he was incarcerated at Charlotte Correctional [at the time of the hit-and-run], but he was on a work-release program at the time — where they would leave in the morning and come back in the evening — and he was working at a hotel one or two blocks up the street,” Jackson said. 

Stanback returned to the prison after hitting Buchanan and fleeing. 

“So, a once-in-a career type thing,” Jackson said, “Very rewarding feeling, just to be able to notify the family of something like that. I was able to speak to Ruth’s son and be able to bring that kind of closure for the family. It’s certainly not a phone call that they would have been expecting.

Stanback made a “full confession” to police in March. (iStock)

“I think this stands as an example — of course, not every case is going to be solved this way — but you never know what is going to happen, 20, 25, 30 years down the line. And the fact that the scientific means have been able to obtain DNA and link it, not to a specific gene pool, but to a specific individual over three decades later is amazing. It really is.”

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He added that witness information and initial reports from responding officers in 1989 were also crucial to solving Buchanan’s death. 

Stanback has pleaded guilty to felony hit-and-run resulting in serious injury or death, the Police Department said in a release. 

He was sentenced to two years in prison, which he will serve concurrently with a 22-year sentence he is already serving on an unrelated offense at the Scotland Correctional Institution in Laurinburg, North Carolina, the department and WSOC-TV reported. 



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2026 primary turnout report released for eastern NC counties; see your county’s numbers

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2026 primary turnout report released for eastern NC counties; see your county’s numbers


Here are the voter turnout numbers for the 2026 primary election, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Hyde County had the highest voter turnout, while Onslow County had the lowest turnout. Check out what the voter turnout in your county was below:

BERTIE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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31.85% (3,911 out of 12,280)

CARTERET COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

29.06% (16,543 out of 56,931)

CRAVEN COUNTY

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Ballots Cast:

18.63% (14,119 out of 75,778)

DUPLIN COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

21.93% (6,981 out of 31,832)

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EDGECOMBE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

18.16% (6,428 out of 35,396)

GREENE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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19.70% (2,147 out of 10,900)

HYDE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

37.27% (1,123 out of 3,013)

JONES COUNTY

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Ballots Cast:

25.91% (1,805 out of 6,966)

LENOIR COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

16.73% (6,251 out of 37,371)

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MARTIN COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

17.61% (2,858 out of 16,228)

ONSLOW COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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11.44% (14,816 out of 129,537)

PAMLICO COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

24.03% (2,446 out of 10,180)

PITT COUNTY

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Ballots Cast:

15.71% (19,429 out of 123,705)

TYRRELL COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

30.49% (723 out of 2,371)

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WASHINGTON COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

28.66% (2,312 out of 8,067)

WAYNE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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21.49% (16,408 out of 76,358)



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Statewide tornado drill has NC schools and workplaces practicing safety

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Statewide tornado drill has NC schools and workplaces practicing safety


Wednesday, March 4, 2026 6:41PM

NC schools and businesses encouraged to practice tornado safety

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — North Carolina schools and businesses took part in a statewide tornado drill Wednesday morning as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week.

The National Weather Service led the drill at 9:30 a.m., broadcasting it on NOAA Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System. Schools, workplaces and households across the state were encouraged to join in.

The National Weather Service didn’t issue a follow up alert to mark the end of the drill. Instead, each school or business wrapped up once they felt they had practiced the procedures thoroughly.

Wednesday’s drill also replaced the regular weekly NOAA Weather Radio test.

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Make sure to download the ABC 11 Mobile App ABC11 North Carolina Apps for Connected TV, Mobile News, Echo

Copyright © 2026 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam

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North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam


Nida Allam in 2022; Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) in 2025.

Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images


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Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee holds a narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional district as ballots continue to be counted.

In a race seen as an early test of whether Democratic voters desire generational change within the party, Foushee holds a lead of just over 1,000 votes with 99% of results in so far, according to the Associated Press.

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Under state law, provisional votes will be counted in the coming days in a district that includes Durham and Chapel Hill. If the election results end up within a 1% margin, Allam could request a recount.

Successfully ousting an incumbent lawmaker is often extremely difficult and rare. However, there have been recent upsets in races as some voters are calling for new leaders and several sitting members of Congress face primary challengers this cycle.

Allam, a 32-year-old Durham County Commissioner, is running to the left of Foushee, 69, framing her candidacy as part of a broader rejection of longtime Democratic norms.

On the campaign trail, Allam ran on an anti-establishment message, pledging to be a stronger fighter than Foushee in Congress, both in standing up against President Trump’s agenda and when pushing for more ambitious policy.

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“North Carolina is a purple state that often gets labeled red, but we’re not a red state,” she told NPR in an interview last month, emphasizing the need to address affordability concerns. “We are a state of working-class folks who just want their elected officials to champion the issues that are impacting them.”

She drew a contrast with the congresswoman on immigration, voicing support for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Foushee has declined to go that far, advocating instead for ICE to be defunded and for broader reforms to the federal immigration system.

Allam also clashed with Foushee over U.S. policy towards Israel. As a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, Allam swore off campaign donations from pro-Israel lobbying groups, such as AIPAC, and repeatedly criticized Foushee for previously accepting such funds.

Though Foushee announced last year that she would not accept AIPAC donations this cycle, she and Allam continued to spar over the broader role of outside spending in the race.

Their matchup comes four years after the candidates first squared off in 2022, when Allam lost to Foushee in what became the most expensive primary in the state’s history, with outside groups spending more than $3.8 million.

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However, this year is poised to break that record. Outside groups have reported spending more than $4.4 million on the primary matchup, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

WUNC’s Colin Campbell contributed to this report.



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