Husband of missing Sampson County woman caught after high-speed chase on I-40
WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Police spent part of Wednesday afternoon chasing the wanted husband of a missing Sampson County woman on I-40 West.
The high-speed chase, which started in Johnston County and ended in Wake County, ensued along I-40 W with Carl Wiggins reaching speeds of 90 mph.
"This time of day, traffic as you can see is very heavy now; there's a lot of construction going on in this area," Highway Patrol Sgt. Marcus Bethea told ABC11. "Very dangerous times to be involved in a vehicle pursuit such as this."
Johnston County officials said Four Oaks police initiated a stop and the pursuit went down Highway 701 south to Newton Grove. The chase continued to 50 and 40 at the Meadow community before entering Wake County.
Wiggins stayed on I-40 until he was wrecked by stop sticks deployed by the Highway Patrol near mile marker 303.
After the vehicle chase, Wiggins got out of his car and tried to run on foot, but he was captured in the woods next to the highway.
"State Highway Patrol members did deploy some spike strips, which did flatten the tires of the vehicle, brought the vehicle to a stop here in Wake County," Bethea. "So, the suspect was taken into custody successfully without incident."
He was driving a 2003 Ford Excursion that police said he stole in Bladen County on June 17.
WATCH: Chopper 11 captures moment husband of missing Sampson County woman was caught by police following a high-speed chase on I-40 W
'We're not giving up:' Family searches for missing Sampson Co. woman; husband wanted for questioning
In addition to the car theft, investigators announced earlier this week that they wanted to question him about his wife, Kiara's, whereabouts.
Wiggins was turned over to Sampson County Sheriff's deputies and the vehicle was towed back to Sampson County for processing.
Charges against Wiggins from the pursuit are pending the processing of warrants by different agencies. Wiggins is being detained for questioning by Sampson County Sheriff's Office investigators.
The investigation into Kiara Wiggins' disappearance is ongoing.
She was last seen June 9 and her family reported her missing June 18.
"Rain, sleet, snow, whatever, we're coming, honey. We're going to find you," her older sister Judy Murray told ABC11 on Tuesday.
They are praying she's still alive.
They reported her missing when they stopped hearing from her on a daily basis as they usually do.
"Me and her talk on a regular basis, all the time," Murray said.
Murray said she spoke to Carl on Saturday.
"I said, 'where's my sister?'" Murray said. "He said, he tells me, 'she's with some friend.' I said, 'well, tell me the friend so I can contact them to get my sister.' And then he just blew up."
Kiara's family said they think he may be involved in her disappearance and maybe worse.
After Carl was arrested, Murray said it doesn't look good.
"It's been too long," she said. "She's somewhere. And he's the only one that knows."
See breaking news? Tell us about it here.
