THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 29, 1996 TAG: 9608290427
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: STAFFORD LENGTH: 44 lines
The body of a woman who disappeared from Stafford County 14 years ago was found at the bottom of a well in nearby Orange County, police said Wednesday.
Stafford County Sheriff R.M. Williams said an autopsy confirmed the suspicions of Ava Marie DeHart's family that a skeleton found Saturday is that of the missing woman.
``Fourteen years is a long time . . . (but) the right piece of information didn't come to light until this past weekend,'' Williams said.
A private investigator hired by DeHart's family led police to the well. Neither the investigator nor police would detail how the investigator learned a body might be there.
``It's a very sad time for us, obviously, but we waited for this for 14 years. We are very anxious to put her to rest,'' Debbie DeHart said.
With the discovery, police turned what had been an unsolved missing person case into a homicide investigation.
Police have long had a theory about how Ava DeHart died, but have made no arrests.
DeHart's live-in boyfriend was questioned about her disappearance, but Williams said investigators found ``nothing at that time to put him as a suspect.''
Debbie DeHart said police did not search strenuously for her sister in 1982 and indicated that she might have run away.
Debbie DeHart said she never believed that and assumed from the start that her sister met with foul play. Debbie DeHart said she believes she knows who killed her sister, but police have asked her to keep quiet.
``It's not over for us, because now we want to see a rapid arrest and prosecution and see the person who did this punished,'' Debbie DeHart said.
The bones rested under about two feet of dirt and debris at the bottom of an old, abandoned well, State Police investigator Garrett Paxton said.
``The body had been in the well a long time,'' Paxton said. The body was identified using dental records, he said.
The state medical examiner will continue examining the bones to try to determine the cause of death, authorities said.
KEYWORDS: MURDER MISSING PERSON by CNB