
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 15, 1995                   TAG: 9502150070
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: VIRGINIA   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WOMAN'S BODY FOUND IN WOODS

A decision to take a shortcut home on a cold night is probably behind the death of the daughter of a Boones Mill Town Councilwoman in Fluvanna County, a sheriff's deputy said.

Cynthia Ann Millway, 37, daughter of Virginia Carroll, had been missing for more than a week. Her body was found Monday night in a wooded area not far from her residence, said Chief Deputy Jack Gillispie of the Fluvanna County Sheriff's office, who said the likely cause of death is exposure. Millway's car apparently became stuck on some ice and she tried to walk home across a field, Gillispie said.

"She got about 45 degrees off her path, and that's when she got in trouble," Gillispie said. "I honestly believe that if she had stayed on the road she would have made it home."

Millway was reported missing more than a week ago by her boyfriend, Gillispie said. Millway left her house Feb. 4 in a car owned by her boyfriend, Christopher Rowley, after the two had a fight.

A deputy found the car on Virginia 761 the next day and checked it over, Gillispie said, but left it because it appeared to be just another car that slid off the road.

Rowley ran across the car himself a short time later and reported Millway missing.

Gillespie said deputies checked with family and friends to see if Millway had turned up at any of those places, but with no luck. Gillispie said they even checked with women's shelters, because they didn't know how serious the fight between Millway and Rowley had been.

"You had to eliminate all those other possibilities first," Gillispie said. "We did what we thought was right."

State Police Special Agent Ken Bumgardner was called in, and dogs were used to search the area. The bloodhounds picked up a scent and searchers found a piece of denim stuck on a fence, and later a pack of cigarettes of the same brand that Millway smoked. Also along the trail, there was evidence that Millway had fallen in some water.

"She probably lasted only about 20 minutes after that," Gillispie said.

Millway's body has been sent to the state medical examiner in Richmond to determine the cause of death. Gillispie said no foul play is suspected.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB