Blogger Christa Ramsey’s death under investigation in Raleigh County
STANAFORD, WV (WVNS) — The death of a West Virginia blogger who had a national following on her website, www.thepennylist.com, is under investigation, Raleigh County Sheriff Jim Canaday confirmed on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
Christa Ramsey, 37, of Stanaford, was known to thousands for her down-to-earth approach to saving money by using coupons, blogging under the name “Christa Coupons.”
She died February 3, 2024, apparently after becoming ill while she was at home with her children, said Sheriff Canaday.
“The husband had just stepped down the road, and he was contacted by somebody in the house. He called 9-1-1,” said Canaday. “He actually went home and started performing CPR.”
Sheriff Canaday said when deputies arrived, ambulance crews were at Ramsey’s home. He said deputies secured the death scene and collected evidence and that Ramsey’s body was sent to the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office.
Her funeral service was held February 16, 2024, at Stafford Family Funeral Home Chapel in Wyoming County.
The funeral home director, Jerry Stafford, told 59News on Monday, February 19, that his funeral home had received multiple calls from across the United States regarding Ramsey’s service.
Sheriff Canaday said, generally speaking, deputies initially treat every investigation as a “homicide” investigation, but he emphasized the State Medical Examiner has not yet released the cause and manner of death for Ramsey on Tuesday.
Sheriff Canaday declined to comment on a February 3, 2024, post on Christa Ramsey’s Facebook page, along with several online articles, which reported Ramsey had died in a car crash.
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Many of Ramsey’s followers, like Blair Hawkins of Suffolk, Va., said Ramsey gave clear “how-to” videos which helped families save money on diapers, toilet paper, paper towels and other household items.
Now a realtor who owns a home, Hawkins said she and her then-husband and son were renting an apartment and that she had unexpectedly become pregnant, around seven years ago.
Hawkins said her mother had just died, and when she discovered Ramsey’s videos, she played them constantly to find out how to save money.
“We were all so used to her voice, it was like a comfort, really a comfort,” said Hawkins on Monday, February 19, 2024. “She really taught a way of life, and she was so relatable. There was no judgment there.”
She said Ramsey’s advice worked so well, she was able to “stockpile” diapers for her newborn daughter, who is now six, freeing her budget to care for the new baby.
“We didn’t have to pay for diapers. We didn’t qualify for any type of help, no food stamps or anything like that, so it was just us,” said Hawkins. “And I would’ve never, ever known how to do that without her (Ramsey).”
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Hawkins, now recently divorced, said she was stunned to learn of Ramsey’s death.
“I remember thinking through the divorce, ‘I’m going to be great, because Christa Ramsey taught me how to survive,'” said Hawkins. “I was really shocked, and it kind of, in a way, drove home the fact that chapter of my life is closed, really, with the divorce and, now, Christa being gone.
“She made the time every single day to deliver deals to us,” she added. “She came to us in YouTube videos, lives.
“She was in the car with her kids. She was doing the same things we were doing. She was doing it for everybody else,” Hawkins told 59News.
Ramsey’s husband and family have set up a GoFundMe account.
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