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Delene Curry |
Sunday, March 7, 2010
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The sister of a Stuart woman whose body was found late Friday is stunned that she had walked within feet of the woman’s car and did not realize she was there.
“I’ve been by her 500 times. I walked within 10 feet” of Delene Curry’s gray Chevrolet Caprice while searching for her, said Dreama Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald is the sister of Curry, 49, of Stuart, whose body was found late Friday in her vehicle down a steep embankment on Virginia 103, according to Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith.
The vehicle appeared to have crashed into a tree before coming to rest under a thick canopy of brush several feet off the road, Smith said.
Because there were no skid marks on the road or any other indications that a crash had occurred, he said the crash site was difficult to detect. He added that police do not know when the crash occurred.
Fitzgerald looked for signs of an accident when she searched for her sister.
“I was looking for tire tracks,” she said Saturday. “There wasn't any” tracks at the scene. “I can’t believe I was that close to her.”
Fitzgerald said police told her the headlights of a passing logging truck happened to shine on the mirror of Curry's car. The logger then called police, she said she was told.
Smith said the call was anonymous.
Curry was reported missing Feb. 27. She was last seen more than a week ago when she stopped to get fuel at a convenience store on Virginia 8 south of Stuart.
Employees there reported that she pumped $5 worth of fuel, but only had $3 with her, Fitzgerald has said. Someone in the store paid the $2.
Curry apparently then left the convenience store and drove a short distance on Virginia 8 before turning onto Virginia 103, Fitzgerald said.
She speculated that Curry was returning to her home on Dobyn’s Road. Curry “always, always, always” took that route home, Fitzgerald said.
There is no curve, dip in the road or other abnormality that may have prompted the crash, Fitzgerald said.
“She had to have been airborne. She must have been flying” at the time Curry’s car crashed into a tree, Fitzgerald said. She added a nearby tree had been “clipped” as the car went by.
“She was in a hurry for something. She had to be going fast,” Fitzgerald said. “There’s no other way she could have done that.”
She said the family had known all along that something had happened to Curry because they had not heard from her. Family members had searched several areas and had asked for volunteers to meet today to resume the hunt.
Curry’s remains were taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Roanoke for an autopsy, Smith said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. We wish this could have ended some other way,” Smith said.
The Virginia State Police is investigating the accident. |
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