Missing woman's body found in French Broad River

Latest news: Body of second missing woman found in river.

ASHEVILLE — Searchers who spent seven days combing the French Broad River in the hunt for two missing Buncombe County women pulled a body from the water Thursday afternoon.

Police Chief Tammy Hooper identified the body as Alexandra King, 22, but said further details are pending a medical examiner's review.

The search for Tatianna Diz, 20, resumed Friday morning on the river.

Divers and crews using sonar equipment concentrated efforts on a section of river near where a 1998 Volkswagen Jetta used by the women was found abandoned with blood inside and a bullet hole in a passenger seat headrest.

Heavy rain and clouds had hampered search efforts before Thursday. With better weather, police were able to mobilize more agencies. Henderson County provided sonar imaging equipment, canines scoured the riverbanks and a state Highway Patrol helicopter circled the skies.

The women had been missing since the night of Oct. 27, when they left their residence in Canterbury Heights Apartments to give Pierre Lamont Griffin II, 22, a ride to nearby Deaverview Apartments, according to search warrants.

That was the same night Griffin, named as a suspect in the women's disappearance, fatally shot a man in an armed robbery at Pisgah View Apartments, according to arrest warrants.

King and Diz had been a couple of two years, and friends and family members said they seemed perfect together.

King was a competitive chess player and homecoming queen her senior year at Owen High, and Diz, a student pursuing spirituality, herbalism and art.

It was "basically love at first sight" when the two women met through friends, said Vannessa Diz, Tatianna's sister.

"They were absolutely in love with each other," she said. "They touched everyone's lives."

Family members and friends also described the women as a kind-hearted pair who likely were giving a friend a ride the night they disappeared.

The two had taken classes at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College and found work at Cracker Barrel.

"They were constantly working forward," said Huck Israel, 18, a student at A-B Tech who was friends with both women for about three years.

"They were always both so happy and so energetic. They could brighten every single room they walked into."

They were, he said, in their goofy, upbeat ways, "some of the nicest people I've ever met."

King loved "everyone, everything," according to her mother, Doris King. That list included animals, nature, God, family and friends. Doris King described Alex as multitalented and self-taught on piano, guitar, flute, drums and violin.

The King family could not be reached Thursday.

She played soccer at Owen, was "very well-liked" and had numerous friends, according to the high school principal.

"Alex was a very involved student," Meg Turner said.

King graduated from the Black Mountain school in 2011. She took classes at A-B Tech while in high school starting in spring 2010 and continued through spring 2012, according to the school.

Diz was a student at Erwin High School, but withdrew in 2012 and did not return to a Buncombe County school, said spokesman Donnie Porter. Diz was enrolled at A-B Tech from fall 2013 through spring 2014. Neither completed a degree.

King was employed at Cracker Barrel, where she had worked since October 2013, according to the restaurant. Diz had worked there from May until September this year.

Israel said the two were doing well, and it was apparent in their demeanor.

"Everything got better for them after high school," Israel said.

He has a photo of Diz he's been thinking about recently. It shows Diz posing with fellow art students at the school. She's in the front row, beaming, "shiny," in Israel's words.

Israel said a teacher described Diz as "a breath of fresh air every time she walked into the room."

A neighbor in the northwest Asheville complex where the women lived described King in particular as outgoing, often outside with her cat.

"They really were the welcoming committee for everybody here," said Amy Upham, 36.

Much is still unclear about the night the women disappeared.

Police have not said if the women ever arrived at Deaverview or if they went at any point to Pisgah View Apartments, about 3 miles away from Deaverview.

The women's Jetta was found about a mile and a half from the public housing development.

Police have said phone records link Griffin as the last known person to communicate with King the night they were last seen, according to detectives.

Diz and King were traveling with Griffin for a drug deal, according to a police warrant, but investigators have been no more specific on details.

A friend of the King family, Dede Ward, said she thinks the perception of the women changed when detectives said drugs were involved the night they went missing.

"These are real typical Asheville kids," said Ward, a mother of six who lives in Weaverville. "Not typical as in ordinary — I think they were bright and special — but typical as in these weren't problem kids."

Multiple sources said the women likely gave Griffin a ride because of their generous nature and likely knew Griffin only as an acquaintance who ran in occasionally overlapping crowds.

"They were probably honestly just trying to help him out," said Israel, who said he's met Griffin on multiple occasions through mutual friends but didn't know him personally. "If they know someone, they look out for them."

Geraldine Melendez, Griffin's mother, said the women and her son were friends but she couldn't pinpoint where or how they met beyond saying they knew each other from school.

Upham, who lives next door to the women, said she saw Griffin outside every morning while he was house sitting with his girlfriend at her uncle's apartment, which is directly across from the women's apartment, but never observed Griffin hanging out with the women.

Upham said Griffin would try to chat with her, and while it occasionally made her anxious, she didn't think much of it until the morning of Oct. 27.

That day, he was different.

"He was in a very, very odd state," Upham said. "He was very different, very agitated."

Upham, who is a social worker, said she thought Griffin might have been in a fight with his girlfriend. "He seemed to be in an altered state of mind," she said.

That was around 8 a.m.

Upham said she's since gone to police twice with what she observed. She thinks the apartment complex needs more policing.

Griffin has no drug convictions.

Melendez and other family members and friends described Griffin, who graduated from Asheville High, as nonviolent, smart, goofy even.

Griffin has been charged by Asheville police with first-degree murder in the slaying of Uhon Trumanne Johnson, 31, around 10:30 p.m. Oct. 27 at Pisgah View. The incident was part of an armed robbery, according to arrest warrants. Police won't say if Johnson was armed.

Uhon Johnson and Griffin were "close friends," according to Jamal Johnson, a friend of both men. Jamal Johnson said the events have "really shocked" him.

Uhon Johnson would later die of a gunshot wound to the head. Griffin, by that time, would be shot by two deputies after allegedly fleeing arrest in a car stolen from Johnson.

Four days later, police connected Griffin to the disappearance of King and Diz. He is being held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility without bond.

The last post on Diz' Facebook page is from Oct. 26, the day before the women vanished. She posted 14 photos of her and King on a road trip to a Halloween fest in Charlotte. The two are beaming in each photo.

Diz posted as a caption, "Scarowinds was a BLAST. Thank you for another amazing date my love."