Dare Sheriff’s Office: Public’s help still sought after body believed to be that of missing Wanchese man found
- Corinne Saunders
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Tedrick Dough (Image courtesy Dare County Sheriff's Office)
By Corinne Saunders
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WANCHESE — The Dare County Sheriff’s Office is still seeking the public’s assistance after announcing in a Saturday night press release the finding of a body believed to be the Wanchese man missing since at least early December.
Robert Tedrick Dough, 37 and known by his middle name, went missing an unknown time before his family filed a missing person’s report with the sheriff’s office on Dec. 10, 2025, according to Chief Deputy Jeff Deringer.
The public’s assistance is still being sought; specifically, information on exactly when he disappeared, any “events leading up to his disappearance” and information from before the body was recovered on Saturday, Feb. 21, Deringer said.
“The Dare County Sheriff’s Office was notified today by an individual that a boat had been located in the marsh south of Wanchese, N.C. that appeared to belong to Mr. R. Tedrick Dough,” according to the press release the sheriff’s office issued Saturday night on Facebook.
“The sheriff’s office responded to the location of the boat and found a body that is believed to be the body of Mr. Dough, pending the official identification,” the release said.
“The sheriff’s office along with the family would like to thank everyone who contributed information to assist with the investigation,” the release continued. “The sheriff’s office offers its sincere condolences to the family.”
Official identification will be completed by the medical examiner in the coming days, Deringer told Outer Banks Insider on Sunday.
“We don’t suspect foul play, but the caveat to that is whatever the [medical examiner’s] report says,” Deringer noted.
“The whole time from this missing person report, we’ve been working a dual investigation of missing person-slash-disappearance—so we’ve been working the criminal side and the missing person side the whole time at the same time,” Deringer said.
Deringer described the found boat as “partially sunk” in the marsh. He said the body was recovered from the water, and “right now, all I can say is it appeared he’d been in the water some time.”
The sheriff’s office on Thursday had issued a press release stating it was seeking the public’s help in Dough’s missing person case. It also announced a reward of up to $3,500 “for information leading to the investigation/arrest of the individual(s) involved in the case.”
Deringer said that the sheriff’s office contributed $2,500 this week to the $1,000 reward that he said Dough’s mother, Amy Dough, had already been offering.
“We were using donation money to put toward the reward…it wasn’t taxpayer money,” Deringer said, expressing appreciation for people who donate to the sheriff’s office.
Outer Banks Insider was unable to reach Amy Dough for comment by publication time.
In a public Facebook post on Dec. 15, 2025, Amy Dough announced an unspecified reward offered “for credible, first-hand information that directly leads to locating Tedrick Dough,” with his name appearing in all capital letters.
She described his missing boat as a 19-foot aluminum jon boat with a standup center console in a Dec. 11, 2025, public post seeking information on his whereabouts.
Anyone with information about Tedrick Dough’s disappearance can call the Dare County Sheriff's Office at 252-475-5980, its communications center at 252-473-3444 or the Dare Community Crime Line at 252-473-3111.
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