Worker’s car found still running on morning after she vanished from store, VA cops say

Officials in Virginia are searching for a 28-year-old woman who’s been missing for days after vanishing from work.

Ahrea’l Smith was last seen the night of Wednesday, Jan. 12, on surveillance footage closing up for the night at the Little Sue convenience store in Claraville, Virginia, where she works as a clerk, according to the Northumberland County Sheriff’s Office. A suspect in her disappearance, 50-year-old Tyrone Samuel, was arrested Saturday, Jan. 15.

But the sheriff’s office said Smith is still missing.

It wrote Monday, Jan. 17, on Facebook that a total reward of $9,400 is being offered from multiple businesses and organizations for information on locating Smith. On Tuesday, Jan. 18, the sheriff’s office said it was continuing the search for Smith along with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. It asked “civilian search parties” to suspend their searches for the day and to give them space to work.

Around 4:45 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, the sheriff’s office got a call that “began a search” for Smith.

The sheriff’s office reviewed surveillance footage from store and discovered that at 9:05 p.m. Jan. 12, Smith went outside and started her car then started locking up the store for the night, Northumberland County Sheriff Johnny Beauchamp said during a news conference on Friday, Jan. 14.

At 9:18 p.m., she went back outside and got into another vehicle, then exited the vehicle and went back inside, where she armed the store’s alarm and locked the door, Beauchamp said. The driver of the vehicle she got into was interviewed by detectives and is not considered a suspect.

Smith then grabbed a trash bag from the front stoop and walked toward the dumpsters, which were out of the view of the surveillance camera.

“She was not seen on camera again,” Beauchamp said.

The next morning, another employee arrived at the store to find Smith’s car still running.

Virginia State Police later showed up with a K9 unit and tracked about 100 yards from the dumpsters to Walnut Point Road, where the track ended after 50 yards, Beauchamp said. That’s where officials believe she may have gotten into a vehicle.

Beauchamp said the sheriff’s office’s entire detective division is investigating Smith’s disappearance along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He asked for the public’s help in finding Smith.

“Please come forward with any information you may have no matter how significant or insignificant you think it is,” he said. “If you drove past the store on the night of the 12th between 9:18 and 4:30 a.m. the next morning and noticed anything at all, please call the sheriffs office with information.”

Those with information can call 804-580-5221 or message the sheriff’s office on Facebook.

He said Smith was last seen wearing a black Nike hoodie, blue jeans and brown UGG boots. She also has a “multiple tattoos,” including a rose on her right thigh and was wearing a “black wig with a red clip in (the) back,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook. She has hazel eyes, is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds.

Lydia Smith, Ahrea’l Smith’s sister, also asked for the public’s help during the news conference.

“If this was your family, what would you want somebody to do? Share it on Facebook. Every post you see, just keep it moving, every social media,” Smith said. “Somebody knows something. Please help us. It’s getting cold, calling for bad weather this weekend. Let my sister be returned safe.”