Police find human remains, burned car tied to missing nurse

Investigators say they’ve discovered human remains in Grand Bay near a vehicle reportedly rented to a Washington County woman missing for more than two months.

According to Mobile County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lori Myles, deputies responded to a report of a burned car spotted on Grand Bay Wilmer Road Thursday night and found human remains on the scene.

Upon investigation, deputies identified the Chevrolet Impala as a rental car registered Terri Sullivan, who was reported missing on Jan. 20 after leaving her mother’s home the Tibbie area.

While she’d been staying in Washington County, Sullivan worked as a nurse at Springhill Medical Center in Mobile. She was last seen leaving for work the morning she went missing. Authorities have suspected “foul play.”

In February, investigators from Washington and Mobile counties found signs of a struggle on Howardstown Road not far from the house where Sullivan had been staying. Her cellphone and a bracelet were discovered along with blood forensic testing later revealed to belong to Sullivan.

Detectives have said they were speaking to persons of interest, but the discovery on Howardstown Road was one of the last developments that had been disclosed to the public until MCSO’s discovery Thursday night.

Detectives say they found the remains discovered in Grand Bay were burned and scattered near the car. But while the car is connected to Sullivan, the remains will have to undergo forensic testing to determine whether they belong to the missing mother of two.

That evidence was turned over to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for DNA testing. According to MCSO, Sullivan’s rental vehicle had been in the location where deputies discovered it “for a while.”

Police are now asking for anyone with information about the car, the remains or Sullivan’s disappearance to come forward. Information can be submitted to MCSO at 251-574-8633. Or anonymously at mobileso.com/crimetips/.