THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220199
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN AND LYNN WALTZ, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 114 lines
Every Mother's Day for more than 20 years, Megan Lienau Jones phoned her parents in Oklahoma. This year the call never came.
``It was the first time . . . she didn't call,'' said Ken Pope, Jones' stepfather. ``That's what raised the alarm she was missing.''
They were so concerned they called their local sheriff, who contacted Norfolk police. Detectives here checked out Megan's Colonial Place home on Saturday. There they discovered the body of a woman who has yet to be identified.
The search for the Popes' daughter sparked a series of surprising turns, which had not ended Tuesday night.
Pope is convinced the body found in their daughter's home is their daughter. The body's description , given over the phone to Pope and his wife, Jean, sounds like Megan, he said.
Megan Jones' husband, Tobin Jones, a psychiatrist and the medical director of Norfolk's Community Services Board, remains in jail on murder charges.
Police would not explain Tuesday why they are not identifying the ``Jane Doe,'' found Saturday wrapped in blankets in an upstairs bedroom of the home at 743 Delaware Ave.
Megan Jones, 43, had been living in the house. Her husband had recently moved out. Police said the dead woman appeared to have been dead since May 13 - the day after Mother's Day.
``She was a very loved daughter,'' Pope said from his home in Wagoner, Okla.
The Popes heard about Tobin Jones' arrest after a friend in Norfolk heard the news and called the family Saturday night, Pope said.
The concern they had felt just a week before quickly turned to grief. Her mother's last conversation with Megan had been on May 8 on one of her frequent calls home.
Meanwhile, the parents of Tobin Jones, 36, were experiencing shock at the news that their son had been arrested for murder. Tuesday, they sat in Norfolk's General District Court, red-eyed and bewildered, waiting for explanations that were not forthcoming.
``We don't know anything,'' said Jones' mother Frances Jones. ``We wish we knew. We're shocked. We found out early yesterday. Nobody called us. We found out through our daughter in California.''
When the Popes hadn't heard from Megan after several days, they went to a friend: Wagoner County Sheriff Johnny Cannon.
``They informed me that Megan and her husband were separated, but on a friendly basis,'' Cannon said. ``We contacted the police department there on their behalf.''
Cannon said he left messages at the Jones' Delaware Aveune house. The missing-person report was filed on Thursday. On Friday, Tobin Jones called back.
``Someone identified himself as Tobin Jones and indicated (Megan) was spending the summer at a beach in North Carolina,'' Cannon said. ``So I related that back to the parents.''
According to the missing person report, the husband did not know Megan's whereabouts and had not heard from her.
Cannon said he never met Tobin Jones but knew he was a psychiatrist. Family members told Cannon he went through psychiatric treatment earlier this year in or near Roswell, New Mexico.
``They didn't elaborate on that,'' Cannon said. ``It wasn't certain if he completed it.''
Jones was an accomplished tenor with Commonwealth Musical Stage in Virginia Beach. He also performed with the Virginia Opera in Norfolk. Colleagues there said his behavior went from calm and professional to rebellious.
Jones, who had been on leave from the board since March, has also been accused of stalking a woman and breaking into her home.
He appeared with his attorney, Stanley Sacks, at a hearing Tuesday to determine whether his $2,500 bond for the stalking and breaking and entering charges should be revoked. Jones had been ordered to stay in his home on Longwood Drive and was fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet that would alert jail officials if he left.
The monitoring bracelets were found at the Longwood home. Lead homicide investigator Pat Dunn offered no explanation for how Jones removed the bracelets. Jail officials said he was only the second inmate of 536 to escape in 10 years.
Prosecutor Philip G. Evans II argued that the murder charges changed everything. ``The most obvious change in circumstances is that now he is charged with murder,'' Evans said. ``That casts a different light on the stalking and breaking and entering charges. It puts it in a light of grave danger. The threat of danger to the community is greater.''
The judge ordered Jones' bond revoked. Another bond hearing is scheduled for today to determine whether Jones will be released on bond for the murder charges.
Megan Jones was described by her neighbors as an avid gardner. The Jones' yard and house near the Lafayette River is shaded by magnolias and fruit trees, surrounded by crepe myrtles, camellias and azaleas. Rose bushes, day lilies and other flowers surround the patio.
In the heat of the afternoon Tuesday, there was a change in the decor at the house on Delaware Avenue.
A small memorial dedicated to Megan Jones began to take form on the front brick steps. A bouquet of pink and red roses sat near a note from neighbors saying they missed her. A white candle burned inside a glass holder.
A poem was propped against some carnations. The first few lines read:
And I am so sorry for what has happened.
So sorry for what has happened to you.
So sorry for all of us, and this community
I thought I knew. MEMO: Staff writer Cindy Clayton contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Friends and neighbors of Megan Jones have begun a memorial on the
front steps of her Delaware Avenue home. Her parents fear the body
found in the home is Megan's.
Photo
When Dr. Tobin Jones appeared in court Tuesday, the judge revoked
his bond on stalking and breaking and entering charges.
KEYWORDS: MURDER ARREST STALKING by CNB