Blood reported in husband's SUV

Investigators in the slaying of Michelle Young are not close to making an arrest, the sheriff's office says

RALEIGH -- Wake County sheriff's investigators found blood in a sport utility vehicle registered to Jason Young, whose pregnant wife was found beaten to death in the couple's home Nov. 3, according to police reports.

The vehicle was seized as evidence the day after Michelle Young's body was found. According to a search warrant returned Friday to the Wake County Clerk of Court's Office, Maj. R.L. Johnson of the sheriff's office saw a white 2004 Ford Explorer on Nov. 4 at 1532 Lake Glen Drive in Fuquay-Varina. Johnson testified to a magistrate that there appeared to be a blood droplet on the seat behind the driver's seat and a dark spot consistent with a blood droplet on the exterior of the driver's side door.

The home is registered to Michelle Young's mother, Linda Fisher. Fisher declined to comment Friday night.

Michelle Young, 29, was found dead the afternoon of Nov. 3 by her sister, Meredith Fisher. The sister had come to the Young home at 5108 Birchleaf Drive in the Enchanted Oaks subdivision south of Raleigh on an errand for Jason Young.

Michelle Young was facedown on the floor in the master bedroom. Bloody footprints made by Cassidy, the Youngs' 2-year-old daughter, were scattered throughout the home. Cassidy was found near Young's body. Michelle Young was four months pregnant at the time of her death.

Other items included in the search warrant included gas and hotel receipts, maps, two cellular phones, a woman's brown wallet, a laptop and assorted papers.

A Wake County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, Phyllis Stephens, said the latest information made public does not mean the department is closer to making an arrest -- or naming a suspect.

"We're still interviewing people and following up on leads," she said. "Nothing's changed."

She said a request had come from Jason Young's attorney, Roger Smith Jr., to have the vehicle returned; Smith picked up the SUV Thursday. A call to his office was not returned Friday.

Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison has said he would like for Jason Young to talk with investigators.

Young, who is thought to be staying with his daughter at his mother's house in Brevard, was told in a court order to provide sheriff's office investigators with his fingerprints, blood samples and other forms of material evidence.

Last month, search warrants disclosed that he had been engaged in some sort of relationship with a married Florida woman, having almost daily contact with her in the three months before his wife's slaying.

"The only contact [with officers] was when he came back from his mother's [home] on Nov. 3," Harrison said recently. "It would be nice if he would [talk]."