The North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission and the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office are working together to investigate a death that occurred on the Tar River on Tuesday evening.

According to NCWRC Sgt. William Cain, the agency received a call at around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night regarding a woman missing in the Tar River. Cain said 30 minutes later, at around 8 p.m., two good Samaritans passing by on a boat found the body of 51-year-old Karen Culley on the river on the Pitt County side of the Beaufort-Pitt County line.

Cain said that Culley was on a boat with another individual before she went missing. The circumstances that led to her going overboard are still under investigation, as is the exact cause of Culley’s death, according to Cain.

“Right now, we don’t know the cause of death, and we’re still waiting on the medical examiner to release the cause of death,” Cain said.

In addition to NCWRC and the PCSO, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS personnel also responded to the scene in support roles.