Police ID body on boat

Police have identified the woman whose body was found on a boat at the waterfront Sunday as 44-year-old Mary Potter of Elizabeth City.

Sgt. Mike Boone said Tuesday police do not yet know how Potter died.

According to officials with Pasquotank-Camden Emergency Medical Services, Potter was found lying on her back inside a boat docked at the waterfront about 7 a.m. Sunday. She was not breathing and could not be resuscitated.

Doug Boyd, a spokesman for the Greenville Medical Examiner’s Office, said the cause of death won’t be known until a toxicology report is completed. That could take several weeks, he said.

Potter lived at 70 Small Drive, Elizabeth City, according to an obituary from Twiford Funeral Homes published in today’s edition of The Daily Advance.

According to the obituary, Potter had been on the boat playing guitar and singing with her husband, Allen, and friends the evening before she died.

She was a successful businesswoman employed with the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting firm, the obituary states.

Potter was a 1983 graduate of Columbia High School, where she had been head cheerleader and class valedictorian, the obituary states.

Potter is survived by her husband, Allen Potter; her son, Keegan Lane; mother, Katie McGuinness; sisters Diann and Karen; brother Blair; stepson and stepdaughter, Eric and Jessica Potter.

A funeral service for Potter will be held at Twiford’s Memorial Chapel, Elizabeth City, Friday at 2 p.m. On Thursday, the family will receive friends at the funeral home from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Twiford’s Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.