A woman has come forward, claiming that she was with the man who killed Ahreal Smith the night before he abducted her.
Smith vanished on January 12th in Heathsville, VA, after being seen on her job surveillance video starting her car and then taking out the trash. The 28-year-old never re-emerged on the cameras at the Claraville Little Sue store, and her vehicle was discovered the following morning still running. On Tuesday, January 18th, her body was located after an extensive search. Before police found Smith’s remains, they’d already arrested 50-year-old Tyrone Samuels for her abduction. Charges are expected to be upgraded in the coming days.
A female acquaintance who is being identified as F.A. says she went to hang out with Samuels the day before he kidnapped Smith.
F.A. told investigators that Samuels asked her out on several dates, but she would always decline. However, the night before Smith disappeared, F.A. visited Samuels at his trailer home.
“He tried kissing up on my stomach and stuff like that, and I said, ‘No.’ I want to go home. I felt uncomfortable,” F.A. explained. While she didn’t have reason at the time to call the police, she did inform her family about the encounter with Samuels. She says that she wishes she could’ve “done something to help” Smith.
Authorities do not consider F.A. a suspect in the case and are working closely with her to piece together a timeline and what led up to Smith’s untimely death.
A Change.org petition has been established to support a bill called Ahrey’s Law that will require businesses to have more than one person in the building during closing. It has already reached nearly 7,000 signatures.
