Beauty queen resigns; area officer connected

By Rose Hooper

Two media sources have named Tosh Welch, a Cherokee police officer, as the former boyfriend.

Welch, contacted Sunday morning at the Cherokee Police Department, said he didn't have any comment about Revels.

Revels said she voluntarily resigned after her former fiancé sent a "negative" e-mail to the Miss America Organization. The controversy concerned photographs, including a from-the-waist-up nude shot taken of Revels while she was changing clothes.

"It is not my desire that my personal life or the physically and emotionally abusive relationship of which I was once a part should be used to bring any degree of reproach upon a program that I truly admire," Revels said in her resignation letter.

On a July 29 interview on "Good Morning America" Revels, a St. Pauls resident and Lumbee Indian, said she broke her engagement with her fiancé three years ago.

The 24-year-old Revels, who was Miss Fayetteville, sang a Puccini aria to win Miss North Carolina. A high school English teacher, she planned to use the $12,000 scholarship from her state title to pursue advanced degrees.

In dealing with the loss of her crown and money, Revels said she will continue to seek a master¹s degree.

First runner-up Misty Clymer of Raleigh was crowned the new Miss North Carolina during a private ceremony July 31. She will represent the state in the Miss America Pageant.

Back to Archive: 08/08/02.