JONESBORO, Ark. – A worker at a local Dollar Tree store has been found dead after police say a gunman tried to rob her and another employee outside the business Sunday night and then made her drive away with him.

It happened around 9:30 p.m. at the store located on the corner of Nettleton Ave. and Red Wolf Blvd., the Jonesboro Police Department (JPD) said in a news release issued Monday.

The gunman reportedly demanded money and then took the other employee’s phone before forcing Lorretta Pixler, 45, into her own vehicle.

The suspect has been described as a black male who was wearing a dark short sleeve shirt and gray pants with a red bandanna over his face. He was armed with a handgun, the other store worker told police.

Pixler was found dead near the Payneway exit along I-555, just south of Trumann, a short time later, when officers were called there to investigate a pedestrian accident after a driver reported he had hit an “unknown object.”

Poinsett County and Arkansas State Police responded to the accident scene and within a short amount of time, determined that the victim was the missing Dollar Tree worker. Pixler was pronounced dead at the scene.

Within about the same time frame, authorities in that county were also notified of a vehicle in a ditch on Hwy. 14 in Poinsett County. Police say the suspect ran from Pixler’s vehicle before officers arrived. Officers from the Arkansas State Police, Poinsett County Sheriff’s Office and JPD assisted in searching the area for the suspect.

Police say anytime they have a crime that involves violent action against an individual, they take it very seriously, especially in this case.

“This person went a step beyond what we are normally accustomed to dealing with where they come in and they take the money and they leave, in that he had this person kidnapped and took her with him. It just makes it more serious and a step beyond,” says JPD Captain Lynn Waterworth.

Pixler’s body and her vehicle have been sent to the State Crime Lab to determine if she was killed before or after she was struck by the vehicle.

Investigators with the Arkansas State Police and the JPD are reviewing surveillance video to try to track down the suspect responsible for this crime.
 
Anyone who may have information about the incident is urged to contact the Jonesboro Police Department at (870) 935-5657 or they can report the suspect’s location anonymously through Crimestoppers by calling (870) 935-STOP (7867).
 

(KARK)