NC NC - Virginia Wood, Kelly Gaskins & Ervin Williams, Chocowinity, 2007

[Kat]

http://www.witn.com/crime/headlines/136985178.html

Updated: 9:45 PM Jan 9, 2012

Video at link above.

The Investigation Discovery Channel featured their story at 9:00 pm Monday to shed more light on this cold case.

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=73455

Ervin Braxton Williams is wanted for multiple charges, and police say he may be linked to the dissappearances of Virginia Lynne Wood and Kelly Gray Gaskins.

Wanted For:
First Degree Arson
Blounts Creek , NC
First Degree Burglary
Blounts Creek , NC
Possession of Cocaine
Washington , NC
Possession of Marijuana
Washington , NC
Misdemeanor Probation Violation
Assault by Pointing a Gun
Blounts Creek , NC

http://www2.wnct.com/news/2012/jan/09/local-missing-persons-case-draws-national-spotligh-ar-1796817/

Monday, January 9, 2012

It was January 2007, Kelly violated her probation, leaving Chocowinity to move to Texas with her boyfriend Ervin Williams. He was wanted on several drug charges in Beaufort County.

In March, Kelly’s best friend Ginni Wood left school at Appalachian State University and drove to Texas for her freshman spring break.

http://investigation.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=141.15379.132705.40769.x

Video of Ginni's Mom speaking (looks like a snip from the show?)

http://www.gotricounty.com/local/ne...8d007e80d&id=a41badf728d3f7d02e9de92ab4151bd5

posted 04/18/2008

please call the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office at (252)946-7111 or Beaufort County Crime Stoppers at (252)974-6400. Crime Stoppers will pay up to a $1000.00 reward for information that confirms the whereabouts of Virginia Wood or Kelly Gaskins or leads to the arrest of Ervin Williams. The Wood family is offering an additional $1000.00 reward for information that leads to the confirmed whereabouts of Virginia Wood. Callers do not have to give their name, only their information.

Please feel free to add more articles and stats and pics for these three.

 

[Sleuthster]

I watched the disappeared episode last night.

What I found odd is that Namus states that Ervin was back in NC with out Kelly or Virginia at one point and that the last contact with Kelly was in 1/2009 when she called home and said she was in the border town in Mx they had been searching.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/4999/0/
https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/show/4999

 

[Sleuthster]

Also, Ervin Williams is not on Namus. Is he actually missing or has he been spotted?

 

[Kat]

I have no clue sleuthster! I couldn't make heads nor tails out of that brief article I posted in #1 that was published this week.

I hadn't even heard of these three until yesterday and I really couldn't find that much info for any of them.

I'm at a loss.

 

[mfena0720]

Hello,
I'm a newbie here, and have a theory about this case. I wonder if the investigators thought of the possibility that these three individuals are living in a fringe community? I know it sounds outlandish, but considering that Gaskins and Williams have the need to be cloaked from society is a huge factor. Also, Wood's mother mentioned that Gaskins had a manipulative type of hold over Wood. What if the trio found some sort of sanctuary in a religious or cult type sect? It's obvious that Williams exerted control over Gaskins, and in turn Gaskins may have manipulated Wood. Gaskins may have pleaded with her friend to "just stay a little while longer" because she needed the emotional support. Gaskins may have even told Wood that it would be risky to call home, for law enforcement would be able to trace their whereabouts. Wood resists contact, and they stay secluded from society. At this point, the community or cult they are living in could have brainwashed Wood; Gaskins and Williams, not so much since they have a need to stay secluded.
I know this theory seems way out there, but consider the motives of Gaskins and Williams to stay away from law enforcement: Williams facing a multitude of charges, and Gaskins breaking her probation. They both have a reason to stay out of the public eye. If it were just three kids (minus criminal records) who decided to take a vacation, then vanish, that would be different. People do strange things when they are desperate, and finding safety in a community that lives outside of the confines and rules of society probably wouldn't sound too bad for someone on the run. There are plenty of places like this in the areas that these three travelled through.
Thanks for the chance to share this; Hopefully I don't sound too crazy!

 

[AnonymousD]

Also, Ervin Williams is not on Namus. Is he actually missing or has he been spotted?

I am a local to this missing persons case.

Williams could not be placed on Namus (per our Sheriff's office) because he is an absconder from the probation system, or was in the process of being charged with crimes. Something to the nature of past crimes & he could not be listed as missing.

It has been said that he was spotted around town, but the Sheriff's office could never confirm any of those sightings. They assume it to just be scuttlebutt.

 

[Aphra]

I watched the disappeared episode last night.

What I found odd is that Namus states that Ervin was back in NC with out Kelly or Virginia at one point and that the last contact with Kelly was in 1/2009 when she called home and said she was in the border town in Mx they had been searching.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/4999/0/

That has to be a typo. she went missing on 1/18/07, and I assume that that's when the phone call took place. (Namus says 1/18/09. That can't be right. They must mean 1/18/07.)

 

[Fin]

There is nothing on Namus about Virginia Woods either. Weird.

 

[AnonymousD]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wood_virginia.html

 

[Aphra]

Interesting. On her Charley Project page, it says that authorities may know of her whereabouts. I wonder where they think she is?

 

[AnonymousD]

Interesting. On her Charley Project page, it says that authorities may know of her whereabouts. I wonder where they think she is?

I'm not sure? I would think her mom would want to know. She goes on TV about once a year to talk about Virginia's case.

 

[justagirl247]

i dont really undertand if they may know of her wherabouts why arent they doing anything to make sure that is where she is and see if she is ok

 

[Dixie811]

I just watched this Disappeared episode last week and learned of this case.

I hope Ginni is still out there, alive.

I am afraid that Ervin may not have trusted Ginni to leave & go home (possibly thinking Ginni would be approached by LE regarding Kelly & Ervin's location, etc?) and as a result he could have manipulated Kelly into assisting him in harming Ginni.

In my opinion, if it was just the three of them willingly in hiding, it's likely that three would have become a "crowd" before too long and Ginni would have chosen to go back to school and leave the couple to their fugitive lifestyle. If she was able.

 

[KurtieB]

It's hard to say what stupid plan Ervin had for doing business in Mexico, but he got himself and the girls killed.
They might have gotten lost and died out in the Mexico desert somewhere, but it's more likely the were killed and buried.
The key is Ginni. She had a life. She is not the kind of person to disappear for more than 5 years now without contacting anyone. I don't think for a minute that Ervin killed her himself or had intention of doing so. He's not a killer. His father may have been a bad man, but he was probably was not to nearly as bad.

With his father committing suicide before the arson trial, he was lost. He obviously wasn't the kind of person to plan things very well, either. If you go down the Mexico with a couple of girls, no experience, no plan, and no money trying to eek out a living, you are destined to fail. You're lucky if you just fail and end up in a gutter somewhere. People leave Mexico to barely survive in the US and are happy to stay. Doing it the other way - going to Mexico with no money - is a hopeless proposition. It's obvious to me they're all dead - probably not long after the credit card was used a day or two after they left. Sorry to say.

 

[Dixie811]

It's hard to say what stupid plan Ervin had for doing business in Mexico, but he got himself and the girls killed.
They might have gotten lost and died out in the Mexico desert somewhere, but it's more likely the were killed and buried.
The key is Ginni. She had a life. She is not the kind of person to disappear for more than 5 years now without contacting anyone. I don't think for a minute that Ervin killed her himself or had intention of doing so. He's not a killer. His father may have been a bad man, but he was probably was not to nearly as bad.

With his father committing suicide before the arson trial, he was lost. He obviously wasn't the kind of person to plan things very well, either. If you go down the Mexico with a couple of girls, no experience, no plan, and no money trying to eek out a living, you are destined to fail. You're lucky if you just fail and end up in a gutter somewhere. People leave Mexico to barely survive in the US and are happy to stay. Doing it the other way - going to Mexico with no money - is a hopeless proposition. It's obvious to me they're all dead - probably not long after the credit card was used a day or two after they left. Sorry to say.

Maybe I am misremembering because it has been months since I watched the Disappeared episode... but isn't there surveillance video of Ervin in his home town a few months after the girls disappeared? Spotted at a gas station, I thought the footage was shown in the Disappeared episode?

My memory is foggy... sorry if that is incorrect.

 

[KurtieB]

Maybe I am misremembering because it has been months since I watched the Disappeared episode... but isn't there surveillance video of Ervin in his home town a few months after the girls disappeared? Spotted at a gas station, I thought the footage was shown in the Disappeared episode?

My memory is foggy... sorry if that is incorrect.

No problem - I just saw it. There were reports - someone said they saw him in July of 07 in a truck with TX plates, but they could find no surveillance video of any car/truck with TX plates let alone the one described on the days in question and no evidence he came. The person suggested he'd "changed his appearance a lot"...and what I think is, some witness some someone with a resemblance. What's more, the cop thought it was very unlikely he'd come back alone just for a visit with the pending charges against him (carrying such a lengthy sentence). From what I gathered, there isn't any evidence of their existence on the planet after the CC use in the small store right across the border in Mexico.
If nothing had happened to them, I think Ginni would have come home after break and the other girl later on when she got sick of living it rough in Mexico.
There's a lot of weirdness with the case. I think the Ervin and Kelly were really lost psychologically. Ervin may have been a liar, but I don't see him as a killer. Just a dumb hick with a loser father who got him tangled into drugs and they both made a horrendous decision dealing with a drug distributor at some point. The decision was so bad, the dad opted to take his own life. He doesn't sound like a hardened criminal himself as much as he sounds like an amateur.
I don't think Ginni or Kelly had any clue what Ervin planned to do. I don't think Ervin knew either. You gotta have brains or braun or an iron will if you strike out to become a tough guy in this world. This guy had none of it. He was an easy target down there.
The other two were collateral damage.

 

[KurtieB]

Here's a timeline of the Mexican drug war. It got going in 2006- it ramped in 2007 and of course it reached its peak in 2010-2011. With all the carnage down there, those people could have easily gotten caught in the crossfire.
I imagine the paranoia and brutality displayed by the cartel members at about that time in 2007. Their enterprise was coming unglued and they began a very bloody campaign. Maybe these three were a few of the early victims.
Nowadays, we all know what is going on down there. It wasn't really big news in 2007 that I can recall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Mexican_Drug_War#2007

 

[whitneyrose]

More than likely the three are dead. I think Kurtie B is right on with that observation. Three teens/twentysomethings going down to Mexico thinking things will be easier for them unfortunately to find out that roughing it in Mexico was not like they thought it would be. They said on the show Kelly's mother recieving a phone call from Kelly saying stuff like she doesn't care to live in Mexico and it wasn't like she thought it was gonna be kinda tell me right off the bat that Kelly probably wanted to return.

I think what might have happened is the two of them got Ginny down there and Kelly might have confided in Ginny that she wanted to leave. Once Ervin found out he might have found a way to keep the girls scared to come back to the USA. The people on the show reiterated that he could be considered dangerous and violent and probably had a few screws loose to boot. Probably ran into the wrong person down there and were killed. In the show someone said in Ervin's brother's statement he tried to get the bro and his gf down there to Mexico and said he would never be coming back. The brother and his gf decided to stay in the USA. I honestly can't see them still being alive, Ginny would have come back by now somehow or made contact in some way if they were IMO.

Sad story but it's also kind of a lesson for others that might get caught up in something like this.

 

[margarita25]

Oh. My. Goodness.

Just saw this case on Investigation Discovery (ID) "Disappeared" (Season 5, Episode 1, "The Road Not Taken") on netflix.



I am heartbroken for Ginni's and Kelly's mothers!! I am sickened to my gut. This is a really horrible case. I hate to think what might've happened to these girls.

 

[margarita25]

Here's a timeline of the Mexican drug war. It got going in 2006- it ramped in 2007 and of course it reached its peak in 2010-2011. With all the carnage down there, those people could have easily gotten caught in the crossfire.
I imagine the paranoia and brutality displayed by the cartel members at about that time in 2007. Their enterprise was coming unglued and they began a very bloody campaign. Maybe these three were a few of the early victims.
Nowadays, we all know what is going on down there. It wasn't really big news in 2007 that I can recall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Mexican_Drug_War#2007

wow, that link is really awful.