WASHINGTON — The sheriff’s office believes the bodies of a woman and two young boys who were last seen Friday have been found in Loudoun County, Virginia.
A vehicle found overturned in a creek by Hogeland Mill Road, off Evergreen Mills Road in the Leesburg area, has been identified as the one the three were reportedly traveling in, Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said Monday evening.
Courtney Ashe, 27, her 5-year-old son, Cameron Martin, and her 9-year-old cousin, Jaylen Sills-Russell, were reported missing Sunday.
Officials are still working to confirm the identities of the bodies found Monday, but Chapman said, “We found a woman and two children that we believe are the people that we were looking for.”
At this point, the sheriff said there isn’t any indication of foul play.
“As you recall, we had a lot of heavy downpour in the area Friday night,” he said. Chapman called the roadway “notoriously tough,” especially in certain weather conditions.
“It’s not a great road to navigate in normal times, let alone during very bad weather.”
The three were last seen Friday about 11-11:30 p.m. leaving a relative’s home in Ashburn and they were supposed to be heading back to Leesburg but never made it, Chapman said. Ashe is from the Suffolk area and was visiting family for the last three weeks in Loudoun County, staying with her uncle who lives in Leesburg.
Ashe’s family members helped with the search as sheriff’s deputies and a helicopter from Fairfax County combed the area for the missing. Chapman said a family member saw the vehicle in the water, and he described the vehicle as being behind a lot of brush.
“The car was flipped over and partially underwater. And based on the rain, it may have been under much deeper water yesterday,” Chapman said.
The investigation caused some road closures in the area Monday evening.
Anyone with information can call the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office at 703-777-1021.
