MIDDLESEX, Va. — The person in custody in connection to the disappearance and death of missing Middlesex mother TerriLynn St. John knew both the mother and the father of her children.
On Thursday at 9 a.m. St. John’s body was discovered about one mile from her home on Mill Wharf Road. Her body was found covered with leaves along Barricks Mill Road in Pine Top, Virginia.
The suspect was identified as Alvin B. Keyser, age 23. Keyser is an acquaintance of St. John.
He showed authorities where St. John’s body was located.
At a press conference, the sheriff’s office said more charges are expected and more people will be interviewed. Right now Keyser is only charged in connection.
The Middlesex Sheriff’s office said they investigated Keyser after a post was made on social media, which recounted statements Keyser made.
“The closure on this is not good closure, but it is closure,” said Middlesex Sheriff’s Major Michael Sampson, who thanked multiple law enforcement agencies, social media tips, and the media for their help with information.
St. John was living with her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance. Earlier police said he was among the persons of interested being interviewed following her disappearance.
“A person of interest could be acquaintances, whether they be personal acquaintances — friends, family,” Major Sampson said. “Miss St. John had a boyfriend at the time. He is obviously a person of interest.”
The Search for TerriLynn
St. John is the 23-year-old mother of two, whose family reported her missing after she did not show up for work Tuesday morning.
When relatives went to her home to check on her, they discovered her children — ages three and one — unharmed, but home alone.
Family members said they believed St. John struggled with someone in her front yard, near her car, around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
“They looked through the woods and you could definitely tell there has been a struggle beside my daughter’s car,” her father Terry St. John said. “Jewelry was all around, like it had been broken off, her cell phone was found in the bushes.”
Investigators hope someone was up early Tuesday morning, noticed something unusual, and will call in a tip.
“We’re hoping someone can come up and say something that they did not think about at the time,” Sampson said. “This is a tight community. Our community works together.”
Investigators have interviewed at least four persons of interest about St. John’s disappearance.
“A person of interest could be acquaintances, whether they be personal acquaintances — friends, family,” Major Sampson said. “Miss St. John had a boyfriend at the time. He is obviously a person of interest.”
Those persons of interest have been cooperative and submitted DNA samples to investigators, Sampson said.
That evidence was sent to the crime lab in Richmond where it is being tested.
Anyone with information was asked to call the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office at 804-758-5600. Witnesses can send news tips here.
