Suspect connected to missing Raleigh man now charged with murder. Body found in Virginia
A man connected to the disappearance of a Raleigh man has now been charged with his murder, according to arrest records.
The arrest comes hours after Raleigh police reported that the body believed to be 39-year-old Andy Banks was recovered in Virginia.
Justin Fernando Merritt, 34, of Danville, Va., has been charged with Banks’ murder. Tuesday, Merritt was charged with felony charges connected to Banks’ disappearance: robbery, larceny of motor vehicle and possession of a firearm by convicted felon in connection with the stolen vehicle.
The body will be sent to the coroner in Roanoke, Virginia, for an autopsy and positive identification, Raleigh police said Thursday in a news release. They found Banks with the help of the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office, a release said.
Merritt had his first appearance in court Friday afternoon. Merritt is being held at Wake County Detention Center without bail.
William Anderson “Andy” Banks went missing Saturday near Cameron Village in Raleigh, where friends said he had gone to sell a silver Range Rover.
On Wednesday, the Raleigh Police Department said it considered the case a homicide.
Thursday’s news caps off several days of fear and anxiety among his family and friends, who searched for him in Raleigh and Danville, Va. There, just over the Virginia state line, police recovered the Range Rover Monday.
“I think the legacy of Andy Banks is just a guy that really lived his life,” said Clifford Cash, a longtime childhood friend, in a phone interview Thursday with The News & Observer.
“He was unwilling to do anything he didn’t want to do,” Cash said. “He had fun and spent time with his friends and traveled and partied and lived on his own terms. That’s what people should focus on. Life is for living.”
The Chatham Star-Tribune said Banks was found in a rural area between Danville and Chatham, Va.
Bill Banks, Andy’s father, spoke with The News & Observer on Tuesday, before police reported that the disappearance had become a homicide case.
“My wife and I have a strong faith,” his father said. “Our faith will get us through this. We’re strong, but we’re struggling.
“Andy was a super fine, loving, affectionate human being,” Bill Banks said. “He had more friends than I ever dreamed of having, and they thought the world of him. They’re all completely devastated. He was a wonderful person. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. As far as I know, he’d never even been in an altercation.”
A 911 caller told a dispatcher Saturday that Banks had arranged to meet someone in the parking lot of the former K&W Cafeteria at 2 p.m. and that he would never go six or seven hours without calling.
Suspect issues threats
Warrants for Merritt’s arrest, issued by Raleigh police on Monday, said, “The defendant committed [the car theft] by means of an assault consisting of having in possession and threatening the use of a firearm ... whereby the life of William Anderson Banks Jr. was threatened and endangered.
ABC11, the News & Observer’s news gathering partner, obtained the warrants.
Warrants also show that Banks’ phone was found on a road in North Carolina, after he was expected to meet Merritt, ABC11 reports. Merritt was previously convicted of a felony burglary in 2013 and sentenced to 10 years, warrants showed.
Banks enjoyed collecting and restoring cars, driving them for a while and then selling them. Friends said he had several Jeep Wranglers and BMWs. Also a dedicated Wolfpack fan and N.C. State graduate, he once drove a red 1970s Cadillac.
“As bad as it sucks that he’s gone, he lived more in 39 years than most people ever do,” Cash said.
Ashad Hajela contributed to this story.
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 3:34 PM.