Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PRICES FORK LENGTH: Short
A Radford Army Ammunition Plant firefighter discovered a body in Stroubles Creek about noon Tuesday after noticing buzzards circling the area, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Ken Phipps.
Investigators believe the body is that of David Gerald Whited, 38, a Radford University student they had been searching for since he wrecked his car Dec. 31 on Prices Fork Road near the Stroubles Creek sewage treatment plant. A passer-by offered help at the time, but Whited, who apparently had suffered head injuries, ran away.
Deputies sent a teletype to Tazewell County Tuesday afternoon so authorities there could notify Whited's parents, Phipps said. Dental records or other tests will confirm whether the body recovered is Whited's, but Phipps said all evidence leads him to believe it is.
The body was found about one-half mile downstream from where the wreck happened, Phipps said. Whited was a graduate of Virginia Tech, and the body recovered was wearing a Virginia Tech class ring.
The body had washed up with some debris near the creek bank, Phipps said, and likely had not been out of the water long.
Whited's parents reported him missing Jan. 12 after he didn't come home to pick up his books for the new semester at Radford University.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.