A body has been discovered about two miles away from the home of a missing Virginia mother, following her disappearance from her front yard amid signs of a struggle.
The body, discovered on Thursday, Mar. 1, in Pine Top, Virginia, has not been officially identified. Citing Crime Insider sources, WTVR reporters told that the body was found covered with leaves in some bushes.
A location along Barricks Mill Road, which is about two miles from the missing woman’s home, has been indicated as the place where the body was found.
A frantic search was launched for 23-year-old TerriLynn St. John after she was last seen early Tuesday, Feb. 27, at her home on Mill Wharf Road in Wake, preparing to take her children to daycare.
The door to her home was found open by her father, who alerted the police.
St. John’s two small children, ages one and three, were alone inside.
Police said other evidence included a broken necklace in the yard.
Middlesex Sheriff’s Major Michael Sampson said on Wednesday that it was too late to say whether St. John was abducted.
Multiple officers took part in the search, with assistance from drones and dogs. The Virginia State Police was called in to provide support in the form of air surveillance.
Sampson issued a plea to the public for help in finding the missing woman.
“We’re hoping someone can come up and say something that they did not think about at the time,” Sampson said, WTVR reported. “This is a tight community. Our community works together.”
St. John had recently moved to the area with her family.