Two Charged After K-9 Search Finds Meth During Hayesville Traffic Stop

On March 3, 2026, at 6:43 p.m., Clay County Officer Sean Stout, with his K-9 Freya, stopped a Buick LeSabre in the area of U.S. Highway 64 East and Jackie Cove Road in Hayesville. The vehicle was stopped due to having no functional taillights.

Officer Stout identified the driver as Gregory Austin Orr, 47, of Robbinsville. Melissa Ann McCarter, 53, of Elizabethton, Tennessee, was identified as a passenger in the vehicle. Orr was unable to produce a registration for the car.

Clay County Investigator Steven Smith, Officer Nate Rogers, and Sgt. Aly Daniel arrived to assist Officer Stout. While Officer Rogers began issuing Orr vehicle-related citations, Officer Stout deployed Freya around the Buick. Freya gave positive alerts on the vehicle for controlled substances.

Officer Stout then conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle. A partially burned marijuana cigarette and marijuana paraphernalia were found in a compartment in the driver’s door. Two glass pipes commonly used to ingest methamphetamine, crack cocaine, or fentanyl, along with numerous cut straws, were found on the front passenger seat.

A glass smoking pipe and a baggie containing a quantity of suspected methamphetamine were also found. The suspected methamphetamine was located in a dashboard ashtray.

Orr and McCarter were both charged with felony possession of methamphetamine and felony maintaining a vehicle for drugs.

Orr was issued no bond due to already being out on pretrial release. McCarter was given a $15,000 secured bond for her release.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.