EDEN — A man living north of Eden apparently shot himself Tuesday, minutes before investigators could question him about a body that was found in Virginia last week.
About 11:30 a.m., investigators with the Eden Police Department and Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office went to the residence of Thomas Lee Lewellyn, 55, at 134 Avery Drive in the Woodcrest Mobile Home Park.
The investigators wanted to question Lewellyn about a woman whose body was found in a field off Old Mill Road in Ridgeway, Va., on July 8, said Dean Venable, spokesman for the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office. Lewellyn lived about six miles from where the body was found.
Investigators knocked and identified themselves and then heard a gunshot inside, Venable said. After calling for assistance, officers went in and found the man dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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Venable said law enforcement officials also had tried to serve a search warrant at Lewellyn’s home Friday.
Maj. Steve Eanes of the Henry County, Va., Sheriff’s Office said the man was a person of interest and the office is investigating.
“We’re not ruling anything out,” Eanes said.
A neighbor, Daniel Doss, said residents at the mobile home park knew the man as “Cowboy.”
“He was all right,” said Doss, who had lived near the man for eight years. “He just stayed drunk a lot.”
While the Henry County Sheriff’s Office has not released the identity of the woman, officials acknowledged that it could be 23-year-old Pamela Marie Woods, an Eden woman who was reported missing last week.
Lewellyn’s death fueled speculation about Woods’ whereabouts. Two neighbors said they’ve seen Woods at Lewellyn’s home and her mother formerly lived with the man.
Eanes said Henry County investigators are waiting for dental records before they identify the woman. They hope to have those results as well as the cause of death this week.
As to people’s speculation, Eanes said: “People put one and one together, and 99 percent of the time, people are right. But then there’s that 1 percent where you’re wrong.
“That’s why you wait until the official word.”
Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 627-4881, Ext. 119, or morgan.josey
@news-record.com
