Inside a quiet stretch of Melinda Road just outside Pembroke, North Carolina, authorities made a grim discovery early Sunday that has left neighbors shaken. Deputies arrived at 1141 Melinda Road around 6:39 a.m. March 22 after a call about people who had stopped responding. When they entered a camper on the property, they found two people unresponsive. A short time later, a third body was located in the same camper.
Officials have identified the victims as 28‑year‑old Triston Goins of Maxton, 51‑year‑old Howard Dean Jones of Lumberton, and 35‑year‑old Ashley N. Jacobs of Pembroke. All three were pronounced dead at the scene. Their families have been notified and are grappling with the shock of losing loved ones in such sudden and unexplained circumstances.
Emergency responders believe nothing in the area posed an ongoing threat to the public, but they have not released any explanation about what led to the deaths. The bodies were taken to the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for autopsies to determine both cause and manner of death. Those results are not yet available.
Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said investigators are working to piece together what happened inside the camper but stressed early on that this tragedy does not appear connected to another recent death in Pembroke earlier this month. That unrelated case involved the death of 51‑year‑old Jame P. Lowery, and while toxicology reports are pending, law enforcement believes the Lowery death was not a homicide.
Neighbors reported a heavy law enforcement presence throughout the morning. Some described family members arriving on scene visibly upset, and at least one neighbor said she thought she heard a loud noise earlier in the night, though no official confirmation of gunfire or similar activity has been released.
The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the investigation with federal partners, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Officials have declined to share additional details about the circumstances inside the camper while the inquiry continues.
For now, community members remain in shock as loved ones mourn Goins, Jones, and Jacobs, three individuals whose lives ended without public explanation in a place where few expected such tragedy.
