North Carolina gas station clerk found dead, suspect arrested on kidnapping and murder charges

Robin Doyle, 58, a longtime employee at the Propst Superette in Hickory, North Carolina, vanished from her home after being seen by a relative on July 27 and was reported missing the following day. When Catawba County deputies responded to her residence, she was not present, prompting a search that led to her body being found in a forested section of northeastern Catawba County on Friday. Authorities arrested 54-year-old Leroy Allen Loper, a registered sex offender with earlier convictions for first-degree kidnapping and a second-degree forcible sexual offense, charging him with felony murder, first-degree kidnapping and concealment of death.

Loper is being detained at the Catawba County Detention Facility without bond. Sheriff Don Brown described the crime as “pure evil,” offered condolences to Doyle’s relatives, and affirmed that investigators will pursue all leads. Community members remembered Doyle as a generous, friendly presence at the gas station, and a tribute at the store read, “Robin, the world wasn’t ready for you to leave, but heaven needed you home.”