VA - Dawn West, mom of 6, multiple stab wounds, slit throat, tattered clothing, Richmond, 7 Nov 2018

[Eat A Peach]

Checking in. And still wondering what it takes to get the word out to the public. Why the media has been strangely silent on this is amazing.

Q
Not being near VCU? Not being near the Shockoe Bottom revitalization? Not being anywhere near the skyscrapers going up for businesses, dorms and high end apartments? I also can’t believe I haven’t seen this on the local news. But let me give my experience. My daughter graduated'kk VCU after attending six years. We signed up to receive student text alerts. We’d get one about a robbery, then watch the local news. Nada. We’d get an alert for something more serious, 50% chance you’d see news about it. And so on. This isn’t a dissing of VCU or Richmond for that matter, but an explanation of maybe because... I can’t fathom why there is no news about this. Poor woman, may she be at peace! JMO

 

[JerseyGirl]

Dawn West Dutcher, 50, of Richmond, was found dead in the 3300 block of Decatur Street. She was fatally stabbed.

Dawn was an active church member at Behind the Veil Christian Ministries, located in the same neighborhood where her body was found. She had also worked in the cafeteria of the former Luther Memorial School on the city’s North Side.

Friends say Dawn was a grandmother, as well, who participated in back-to-school drives and helped in feeding the homeless.

Sources: Woman found dead in southside alley stabbed

 

[MimosaMornings]

Did she live in this neighborhood? Was she home at 1:30am when someone last heard from her?
Was she out taking a walk with the guy in the video at that time? Perhaps to buy cigarettes?
Is there anything from her family on MSM?
Where did she work? It mentioned the former Luther Memorial School - but it closed July 2016.

 

[JnRyan]

Dawn West Dutcher, 50, of Richmond, was found dead in the 3300 block of Decatur Street. She was fatally stabbed.

Dawn was an active church member at Behind the Veil Christian Ministries, located in the same neighborhood where her body was found. She had also worked in the cafeteria of the former Luther Memorial School on the city’s North Side.

Friends say Dawn was a grandmother, as well, who participated in back-to-school drives and helped in feeding the homeless.

Sources: Woman found dead in southside alley stabbed

THANKS! Some information that might help! Even if this person was not involved, they can fill in the timeline and bring LE closer.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Her church, Behind the Veil Christian Ministries has a Facebook page.
Nothing about Dawn?!
Enthusiastic members

 

[MimosaMornings]

Did her children live with her?
Husband/father of children/boyfriend?
Co-workers?
Church members
(Nothing on her church FB page to even acknowledge a member has passed? Wow)
Neighbors?
There is just nothing there.

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

Fundraiser by Carl Drew Watkins : Celebrating Dawn
Fundraiser by Carl Drew Watkins : Celebrating Dawn

Her children look Happy and Healthy.

 

[oceanstarryeyes]

The church is 2811 Decatur Street which shows 0 miles on maps to Hull St/Decatur (the location she was found)
She could have been volunteering at the church or a food pantry might be there.

 

[MimosaMornings]

So glad to see a picture of her with her children- it’s terrible someone took her away from them.

 

[Charliegizmo49]

Checking in. And still wondering what it takes to get the word out to the public. Why the media has been strangely silent on this is amazing.

Call them. Ask.

 

[JnRyan]

Call them. Ask.

I have not called them, but I have used facebook and no response.

 

[moonriverfarm]

Update?

 

[Eat A Peach]

Update?

Not really. The police have obtained photos from a video of her and a male walking about a block from where she was found. They have circulated the photo. No updates since then on local news to my knowledge. If this is repeat info, sorry! I’m a newbie so not sure this is ok, but here’s the story with video: Video shows man walking with woman who was found dead in alley

 

[realanastasia]

The church itself looks...interesting. They have many locations around the country, sort of like a business franchise (no offense intended by the comparison). What I’m having trouble finding is info on the kinds of services they offer—I feel like this might help explain why Dawn was out at that late hour (did they—like many urban churches—offer shelter to the homeless at night, and did church members like Dawn regularly do outreach to encourage folks to come in?). I also can’t tell if they serve particular disenfranchised populations (drug addicts, formerly-incarcerated folks, pregnant teens, etc.) but again think this information might help illuminate the types of circles in which Dawn may have regularly traveled.

 

[MimosaMornings]

There is little info, we don’t know where she worked, what was her interests or daily activities, did she live alone or some of her kids live with her? Does she have other relatives that live nearby? Perhaps she went to get something from the neighborhood
convenience store for an elderly person? Or one of the kids?

 

[pepin]

The police should interrogate the homeless in the area, not to soundmention judgemental but the guy in the video looks homeless. It is possible she went for a midnight walk and ran into him, wanted to help him out, and he found a moment and did it.
Homeless people have knowledge of one another and I am sure one of them at least will give some useful information if given something in return. Don't forget that homelesss people usually pass by unseen since most people avoid eye contact with them. So everyday people are less likely to have information. The homeless people will talk.

I would be happy to actively work on this case. If anyone is interested pm me or reply here. I think we can help LE go in the right direction.

 

[rosesfromangels]

The police should interrogate the homeless in the area, not to soundmention judgemental but the guy in the video looks homeless. It is possible she went for a midnight walk and ran into him, wanted to help him out, and he found a moment and did it.
Homeless people have knowledge of one another and I am sure one of them at least will give some useful information if given something in return. Don't forget that homelesss people usually pass by unseen since most people avoid eye contact with them. So everyday people are less likely to have information. The homeless people will talk.

I would be happy to actively work on this case. If anyone is interested pm me or reply here. I think we can help LE go in the right direction.

Where is the father(s) of the children? Always my first POI’s; especially if they have to make $ payments to her. I’m not getting a homeless vibe on this. More like hookup gone bad or something involving money.

She looks like a nice woman, but do we know if she was involved in any shady business?

Amateur opinion and speculation only

 

[rosesfromangels]

I just looked at city-data for Richmond. Yikes! High crime area, lots of sex offenders.

Can someone tell me what this woman was supposedly doing out at 1:30am in a high crime area?

What was her form of income?

Amateur opinion and speculation

 

[rosesfromangels]

Not really. The police have obtained photos from a video of her and a male walking about a block from where she was found. They have circulated the photo. No updates since then on local news to my knowledge. If this is repeat info, sorry! I’m a newbie so not sure this is ok, but here’s the story with video: Video shows man walking with woman who was found dead in alley

This is a very clear video.
Im sure people know who he is, but aren’t speaking up.
I don’t think there is much of a mystery as to what happened here.

Amateur opinion and speculation.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Has anyone seen an obituary?