Missing Durham man found dead inside his car in Morrisville, case now a homicide investigation

MORRISVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Less than a month after he was reported missing, the body of a Durham man has been found inside a car in Morrisville.

According to the Morrisville Police Department (MPD), the body was found with multiple gunshot wounds after officers responded to a call about a person asleep in the back seat of a car in the 300 block of Walnut Woods Drive on Monday, Nov. 13.

The person was later identified as 19-year-old Semar Barbour. He was reported missing to the Durham Police Department on Oct. 23, a news release states.

MPD said the car was a burgundy 2011 Chrysler 200 with a North Carolina license plate. It was registered to Barbour, and officers positively identified the body found inside as Barbour.

Investigators said Barbour had been shot several times and his car appears to have been parked at the location since at least the morning of Oct. 24.

Mayor-elect, Leo Williams provided this statement to ABC11 about Barbour's death: "When our young people aren't occupied with something productive, something counter-productive with occupy them. It's time for our communities to be villages again, from work to extracurricular activities to recreational programming city-wide. I hope to champion that as Mayor effectively ."

Officers said they're continuing to investigate Barbour's death and will release information related to the homicide as it becomes available.

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