Authorities in Henry County are investigating the death of a woman whose decomposed body was found late Saturday on an embankment along a rural road near the North Carolina border.

The sheriff's office said Monday that the body of Andrea Jean Harbour, 36, of Ridgeway was found in a ravine near the two-lane, two-mile-long highway. The medical examiner's office said the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to her upper torso, and Henry County officials have ruled her death a homicide.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a call Saturday after 7:45 p.m. from neighbors who said they smelled an odor near the road that had grown stronger over several days, Lt. Kimmy Nester said. The neighbors suspected it was a deer or other roadkill but found what appeared to be a human body.

After combing the area, investigators had reason to believe the body was dumped there, Nester said.

Harbour was last seen by her husband, who lives on Powell Road, on Sept. 8 about 4 a.m.

She had not been reported missing.

Investigators have interviewed friends and family of the woman, among them her husband and her mother, who lives in Eden, N.C.

"We're working on a timeline of what the events may have been," Nester said.

Anyone with information related to this case is asked to call the sheriff's office at (276) 638-8751.

Staff writer Neil Harvey contributed to this report.