Tyrone N. Samuel, a man in Virginia, has been arrested and charged with abduction after a woman, Ahreal Smith, went missing and has still not been found.
Tyrone N. Samuel, 50, was arrested and charged with the abduction of Ahreal Smith, 28, police announced on Sunday.
Ahreal Smith, who was working at Claraville Little Sue Store in Heathsville, has not been seen since she took out the trash last Wednesday when finishing her shift at the store.
And despite the arrest and ongoing police investigation, there is still no information of her whereabouts.
Ahreal Smith was last spotted on Wednesday, January 12, when she left work and was seen on surveillance footage taking a trash bag to a dumpster.
She was seen at 9:05 p.m., leaving the store and starting her car in the parking lot. She then went back inside the shop and was seen again 13 minutes later when she got into another car.
Police have interviewed the driver of the second car, who they have determined is not suspicious.
After setting the alarm and leaving the shop for a final time, Ahreal Smith could no longer be seen by the video cameras by the time she reached the dumpster.
A colleague found her car still running in the parking lot the following day when she was reported missing. Smith was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black Nike hoodie, and brown Ugg boots.
Dogs in the K-9 unit followed Smith’s scent from the dumpster for around 100 yards before losing it, possibly because she had gotten into another car.
Businesses and organizations in Heathsville have come together to offer a $9,400 reward to anyone with information leading to her whereabouts.
Ahreal Smith’s sister, Lydia Smith, spoke to the media and explained that moments before her disappearance, she sent a text message saying there was a strange person in front of the store that made her feel uncomfortable.
The woman shared: “She said that someone at the door made her feel uncomfortable. She never really said a name, but she said that someone, you know, made her feel uncomfortable. But not that she was afraid. When she went to that trash like the last look on her face was her normal self. Her demeanor was calm. Somebody was waiting, and they snatched her.”
She has appealed to the public, asking anyone who knows anything to just “let her go.”
She spoke on behalf of the family and said that it is like living in a nightmare and added: “For me, I can speak for the whole family. I mean, this is just like a living nightmare. Like, I don’t know what I’m coming to, all the days seem the same, like we’re at day five that she’s been missing. It’s cold. I don’t know where she could be. He’s not talking, police and FBI working and like endlessly, on day and night.”
Reports claiming that the woman has been found dead or alive are inaccurate. The investigation and the search are ongoing.
