Alvin B. Keyser, 23, of Middlesex, Virginia has been charged with murder in the death of TerriLynn St. John who went missing for two days
A 23-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a Virginia mother he admitted he hit, strangled, then buried under a pile of leaves, cops say.
The disappearance of TerriLynn St. John, 23, caused panic in her Middlesex community. She was missing for two days after vanishing from her driveway with her two young children still inside her home on Tuesday.
Police have arrested her acquaintance Alvin B. Keyser, also from Middlesex, Virginia, who led detectives to her body.
St. John went missing at 7:30am from her driveway on Tuesday.
She was preparing to take her two children, ages one and three, to day-care, deputies said.
Keyser was an acquaintance of St. John, her children, and their father and drove to her home that morning to address comments that she had made about him, according to WTVR.
TerriLynn St. John, 23, of Middlesex, Virginia, vanished from her front driveway Tuesday with her two young children still inside
St. John (right pictured with boyfriend) and Keyser were acquaintances and he told police that he went to her driveway Tuesday morning to address comments that she had made about him
Her body was found covered in leaves in a nearby wood. She leaves behind two children – a one and three-year-old
Keyser told police that she got into his van willingly.
Inside the van the two began to argue and he claims St. John hit him and he struck her back and pushed her out of the van.
‘Keyser stated to detectives he confronted St. John at her residence about statements that were made about Keyser. Keyser stated that St. John struck him, and he struck her back he then pushed her out of the van Keyser was driving,’ Middlesex Sheriff’s Major Michael Sampson said in a statement.
Once out of the van, Keyser said to investigators that he continued to hit her and strangle her until she could no longer breathe.
Then he claimed he put her body into the car and headed towards the woods where he hid the body.
‘Keyser then stated he loaded her in the van and put her body in the woods down from her residence,’ Sampson said.
Her family reported her missing when she did not turn up for work on a horse farm on Tuesday.
Relatives checked the home for her and found the children unharmed but alone, according to WTVR. The front door was also open.
Keyser (above) told police that the two got into an argument in his van. He claimed she struck him and he responded by hitting her and strangling her
Keyser is an acquaintance of St. John and knows her children and their father
Scene of the crime: This is the driveway in front of St. John’s home where St. John is said to have entered Keyser’s van
Her front driveway was taped off for police officers to investigate. Family say they found her belongings including pieces of jewelry on the ground and her phone in the bushes
Keyser led police to her body in a wooded area where it was found under a pile of leaves
Her body was discovered around 9am Thursday morning just a mile from her home
Her body was found covered in leaves Thursday morning around 9am a mile from her home on Mill Wharf Road in a wooded area.
The family says they found signs of struggle in the front yard of her home.
‘They looked through the woods and you could definitely tell there has been a struggle beside my daughter’s car. Jewelry was all around, like it had been broken off, her cell phone was found in the bushes,’ her father Terry St. John said.
Authorities were alerted about Keyser after someone posted on social media about one of his previous statements, Sampson said in a press conference.
Keyser is held without bond at the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center.
His first court appearance is set for Monday, March 5.
More charges are expected and more people will be interviewed as well, according to the Sheriff’s office.
St. John was living with her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance and he was a person of interest at the beginning of the police search for her.
A GoFundMe page has been made to raise money for St. John’s children.