GUILTY VA - Ashanti Billie, 19, found deceased, Virginia Beach, 18 Sept 2017 *Arrest*

[Nanceedroo]

There's no way it was there at 4am if they have the car on camera going through the gate. So either he's memory off or the day.

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Yes. Either the day is off OR the time. If the neighbor actually saw the car on Monday it would have to be closer to 6am. If he saw it at 4 am it would have to have been Tues morning. My personal opinion is that it was left Monday morning closer to 6am and the witness was confused about the time (probably half asleep, maybe looked out the window, went back to bed, then by Saturday when they realized whose car it was had to recall when he first saw it). Cell phone was found Mon morning too.

Sadly, I think this poor girl was on her way to NC on Monday.

 

[Elainera]

OMG this is the second time today that I come back after being ill and offline for a couple days and find the dreaded title change. What a sad outcome

RIP Ashanti!

I'm stumped she was found so far away. I think either more than one person was involved or they subdued her, tied her up or something, before driving all the way to the dump site. But why drive so far? I wonder whether the perp lives there and held her for a while?

Even after being on WS for years I'm still shocked every time we get this terrible news. She was so young!

 

[Richmond]

Even for crimes not committed on a military installation LE has frequently withheld that information, either temporarily or until an arrest is made. On a military base, there is probably the added factor of national security. Right off, I can't think of what is on that side of the base other than possibly an assault craft unit.farther down the road. I don't remember what commands or buildings are around the NEX. I believe that NEX is a mini-mart and doesn't have an ATM. But I could be wrong on that last part.

I agree. I think (hope) LE and military police on base know (a lot) more about her movements on base during the 1/2 hr. she was there than they are revealing. And I hope they have identified POI(s). Such a sad end for this young woman and such a loss for her family.

 

[JLD333]

I agree. I think (hope) LE and military police on base know (a lot) more about her movements on base during the 1/2 hr. she was there than they are revealing. And I hope they have identified POI(s). Such a sad end for this young woman and such a loss for her family.

I hope so too. You'd think they'd have the best cameras available but they probably don't. Either way, it's awfully brazen if someone did abduct her while she was on base. I just can't figure how someone would've lured her off base so close to when she needed to be at work. By all accounts, Ashanti was very punctual and responsible. She was on base early, which leads me to wonder if a coworker or boss asked her to be there early for whatever reason. It's hard to imagine that in the short time she's lived there, she developed a relationship with a member of the military on base but then again, anything is possible.

It seems clear that whoever did this wanted her to be found which is puzzling. I will be interested to hear cause of death.

 

[jamicat]

The only thing that is certain is that someone in Ashanti's car with her ID went into the base. Someone who could pass muster with her ID or Ashanti herself. I am inclined to believe that Ashanti was the driver. We do not know if someone else was also in that car undetected by the guard and camera

We also know that the car left the base a half hour later. No way to know for sure who was driving the car and who was in it. I believe Ashanti was in the car but no way to tell if she was alone or even alive in it.

Why did she get up so early to go to the base? She did not have to be there for quite a while. Something compelling had to get her to go there at 4am. People simply do not get up and going at that time without something important.

Did she have something stashed on base and had to retrieve it? Something that got her killed?

 

[cvaldez1975]

cell phones can be pinged for movement. they may have wanted to get rid of it right away

My guess is the person who threw cell phone in the dumpster was an older person. Many older people don't know how to turn cell phone ringers off.

 

[EA18G]

Maybe she (or somebody) went there in the car before going to work.

 

[Nanceedroo]

Why did she get up so early to go to the base? She did not have to be there for quite a while. Something compelling had to get her to go there at 4am. People simply do not get up and going at that time without something important.

That is the million dollar question. I think she was lured there...the promise of a job interview? (Her mom said she was excited about the promotion she just got) Could someone have told her that her Bf was able to get away to see her and that's the only time he could be on base? (She grew up in an army family and probably is trusting of that institution). In any event, it had to be something big to get her out of bed at 4 in the morning

 

[hey-Debbie]

I'm thinking that someone she knew asked for a ride that morning. Maybe that is why she was there earlier than usual. They said hey can you give me a ride to my car off base before work. I need to get my car. I left it at such and such place. Maybe saying it broke down or they left it there because they had too much to drink, whatever the case. So she goes in early maybe even goes inside this persons barracks or dorms and then leaves 1/2 hour later. I think they lured her where they car was left and they switched cars and then dumped the cell phone. I think it was planned. There's no way a person would risk walking away with a body when her car was dumped or either that person switched cars then dumped her car then a second person would most likely had to be involved. I'm wondering who her room mates were, where they were from originally, and did they hang out with other people that were in the military. How did Billie get her job? Did she have a contact that worked on base previously. I think this person was someone she knew but maybe not that close or very long. Motive? Motive? Motive?

 

[zannian]

cvaldez1975 reply.......


It may have had lock screen security, also. The fact that the cell phone wasn't hidden better or destroyed, makes me think there was never any cell phone contact between offender(s) and victim.

 

[CatchingClues]

If it was someone who was already on base who abducted her, then that person had to have a clearance to be there, correct? And there must be fingerprints on the car, her belongings, perhaps even her since there were several points of contact it seems. Either way, if this wasn't someone she knew, then this sounds like the work of a serial killer. I'm sure law enforcement is working around the clock to solve this. Very scary.

 

[ElementalLaura]

If you removed the background from this, I would suspect gang-related drug violence. Brutal crime, seems to be a message of sorts -- too seemingly calculated to be random. I don't believe she was taking drugs (6 am start times weed out a lot of drug users), but did she stumble into a situation and see/hear something she shouldn't have? Or get lured into helping out new friends?

 

[TarainVA]

I keep reading different accounts. She went through gate 3 and exited due to an accident ...to a detour to gate 1. Was she recorded as entering gate 1? I find it hard to believe she was abducted on that base for many reasons. Have her roommates said what her mindset was that day or sat before or what was going on in her life? We have heard from her parents who say she was excited.

 

[Indy Anna]

We know that Ashanti was seen at home @ 4:00 AM the day she disappeared. Investigators have confirmed that Ashanti entered the base at 4:56 AM, which would be when she entered base the 2nd time, at Gate 1, and the guard checked her ID. The first time she entered (at Gate 3) at 4:44 AM. Investigators are not able to confirm, however, that she was driving or even in the car when her car exited the base 30 min. after she entered base again at Gate 1. These times and sightings are reported in MSM (below).

I haven't seen stated anywhere in MSM that it was unusual for Ashanti to leave for work around 4:00 AM. If anyone has seen that stated, please link (TY!). We only know that she was seen at her apartment at that time. She may have left home closer to 4:30. A couple of WS members on this thread, who are familiar with the area, said that morning traffic is very heavy so some people leave home early to beat the rush and then sleep an hour or so when they arrive at their place of employment before their shift begins. That may be what Ashanti did. Or, she may have used that extra time to study, since she was also a student. I've had coworkers who arrive at work an hour or so before their shift because they take the bus.

IMOO, Ashanti followed her usual routine that morning, and no one was in the car with her (else it would be reported). Something must have happened on base when she entered around 5:00. Somehow, someone must have found opportunity to carjack her. Again MOO. But, it's the only way I can figure how she ended up (deceased) in Charlotte, NC, and her car, cell phone, hair braids and any of her other belongings that have been recovered, ended up at other locations in Norfolk.

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Billie was last seen around 4 a.m. Monday, September 18 in the 4400 block of Bonney Road at the Midtown at Town Center Apartments.

<snip> http://wtkr.com/2017/09/23/police-find-car-belonging-to-missing-19-year-old-ashanti-billie/

The younger Billie was last seen at her apartment building – Midtown at Town Center on Bonnie Road – at about 4 a.m. Monday, police said. She lives there with three roommates, according to her mother.

She drove up to a gate at Little Creek, where a guard checked her ID at 4:56 a.m., Brandy Billie said. She would normally get to the sub shop at about 6 or 6:30 a.m. when she was scheduled to open, her mother said.

<snip> https://pilotonline.com/news/local/...cle_3f778746-bbe4-54c7-9da5-0d35617a583e.html

Billie works at Blimpie’s Subs on the base. According to the FBI, the video of her car entering Gate 3 was taken around 4:44 a.m. Because of an accident on base, she turned around and left three minutes later.

<snip> http://wavy.com/2017/09/26/fbi-releases-video-of-missing-womans-vehicle-at-jeb-little-creek/

Authorities said the Mecklenburg County medical examiner’s office identified the body discovered behind a church Friday morning as that of Ashanti Billie, a student at a culinary school in Virginia Beach, who was last seen Sept. 18 about 5 a.m. as she entered a military base, where she worked at a sandwich shop.

[....]

Investigators said Billie entered the base about 5 a.m. on Sept. 18 but never arrived at work. A short while later, video shows her Mini Cooper leaving the base, but it was not clear whether Billie was in it, officials said previously.

<snip> https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...41773cd5a14_story.html?utm_term=.a5cb4dc72ece

BBM

About 30 minutes after entering the naval base, Billie's car left the base, surveillance video shows. Authorities have not been able to determine who or how many people were in the vehicle, The Virginia Pilot reports.

<snip> http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/l...fter-Daughter-Disappears-in-Va-447891663.html

 

[Indy Anna]

https://www.facebook.com/MissingPiecesNetwork/posts/1728957067410464

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Bringing this forward to point out that Ashanti had epilepsy and was without her medication. If she intentionally disappeared, she would pack some belongings--if nothing else, her seizure medication.

Her abductor may have even kept her alive, but Ashanti may have died of a seizure because her abductor didn't get medical help (he/she wouldn't want to get caught). Just a thought.

I also can't imagine why she would bother driving to base if she intended to go off the radar. What purpose would it serve to give people the impression she had been at work that day? Her coworkers realized she hadn't shown up by 9:00 AM when one arrived for the next shift. She could've called in sick, and then been further away by the time anyone discovered she was missing. If she was running off with someone else, why not meet that person at a secretive location?

I get that she would possibly ditch her cell phone (to avoid being traced) and her car (to ride with someone else), and even her hair braids (to change her hairstyle/appearance) if she had willingly disappeared. But driving to base, and then entering and exiting--not once, but twice--makes no sense to me. And, above all, it makes no sense that she wouldn't pack her belongings, especially life-saving medication.

MOO :moo:

 

[CatchingClues]

I'd like to hear more about her roommates. Especially the one who described what she was wearing when she left at 4:00 am. I hope the police searched the apartment as well.

 

[Gardener1850]

Bringing this forward to point out that Ashanti had epilepsy and was without her medication. If she intentionally disappeared, she would pack some belongings--if nothing else, her seizure medication.

Her abductor may have even kept her alive, but Ashanti may have died of a seizure because her abductor didn't get medical help (he/she wouldn't want to get caught). Just a thought.

I also can't imagine why she would bother driving to base if she intended to go off the radar. What purpose would it serve to give people the impression she had been at work that day? Her coworkers realized she hadn't shown up by 9:00 AM when one arrived for the next shift. She could've called in sick, and then been further away by the time anyone discovered she was missing. If she was running off with someone else, why not meet that person at a secretive location?

I get that she would possibly ditch her cell phone (to avoid being traced) and her car (to ride with someone else), and even her hair braids (to change her hairstyle/appearance) if she had willingly disappeared. But driving to base, and then entering and exiting--not once, but twice--makes no sense to me. And, above all, it makes no sense that she wouldn't pack her belongings, especially life-saving medication.

MOO :moo:

Thank you for pointing this out Indy Anna. I have been waiting for more info before I propose a theory but my current theory is this was an abduction or trafficking attempt gone wrong. Ashanti was only 4' 11" tall. She looks so tiny and young that I'm guessing someone thought she was a much younger teen. Traffickers cut their victims hair and even go so far as removing braces on their teeth.

 

[JLD333]

I'd like to hear more about her roommates. Especially the one who described what she was wearing when she left at 4:00 am. I hope the police searched the apartment as well.

Good call here. Were her roommates also awake at 4am because they worked on base and would be leaving soon? Are we sure the roommate described the clothing or was she seen on a security camera?

Someone mentioned the traffic in VB/Hampton Roads and it definitely wouldn't be crazy to leave around 4-4:30 for some people that work on base. Traffic can get VERY heavy around the typical military shift hours(6am and 3pm, I think?)and Town Center is about a 15-20 minute drive to the are the base is in when there isn't much traffic. With her parents being military, it wouldn't surprise me if she's unusually punctual(aka arrives early often) and an early riser.

Also, were the items found by family and friends who searched around where phone was found confirmed to be hers?

 

[cvaldez1975]

when my husband leaves w his kids for school in the morning I don't even get up (start later) I wouldn't be able to tell you what they wore that day.

Good call here. Were her roommates also awake at 4am because they worked on base and would be leaving soon? Are we sure the roommate described the clothing or was she seen on a security camera?

Someone mentioned the traffic in VB/Hampton Roads and it definitely wouldn't be crazy to leave around 4-4:30 for some people that work on base. Traffic can get VERY heavy around the typical military shift hours(6am and 3pm, I think?)and Town Center is about a 15-20 minute drive to the are the base is in when there isn't much traffic. With her parents being military, it wouldn't surprise me if she's unusually punctual(aka arrives early often) and an early riser.

Also, were the items found by family and friends who searched around where phone was found confirmed to be hers?

 

[Nanceedroo]

Also, were the items found by family and friends who searched around where phone was found confirmed to be hers?

To my knowledge and through reports from local media, there were NO confirmations that the items found were related to her case. ( I believe there was a pink tennis shoe and some braids found in area where car was dumped.)