Found Deceased Va - Denise Martin, 22, Virginia Beach, 19 June 2018

[creepcrusher]

I think LE already knows....from clothing. By all indications and lack of updates from friends on SM, I don't get a sense of urgency, nor that searches are still taking place.

I agree. I think they are just going to wait until test results are in to make it official to the public IMO.

 

[Ontario Mom]

I think LE already knows....from clothing. By all indications and lack of updates from friends on SM, I don't get a sense of urgency, nor that searches are still taking place.

From all I've seen there hasn't been any public mention of any additional searches since the body was discovered. I just can't imagine why it's taking this long to formally ID the deceased.

 

[creepcrusher]

From all I've seen there hasn't been any public mention of any additional searches since the body was discovered. I just can't imagine why it's taking this long to formally ID the deceased.

I wonder if they want to wait until the cause of death is revealed. Maybe they don't want people speculating that she took her own life if she actually hadn't? I'm thinking family might already know it's her. JMO

 

[Mistree]

Body in Red Mill neighborhood of Virginia Beach still not identified

 

[carbuff]

The longer it goes, the less I think it's her.

I've followed other cases where remains that were not the missing person were found in the course of a search. Can't remember which ones off the top of my head though. It seems odd but it does happen.

 

[whitelilac]

For me, the longer it goes, the more I think there's foul play involved.....
But I don't really know.....

 

[joijoi12]

Body in Red Mill neighborhood of Virginia Beach still not identified

“The body was up against his fence...”
This is not what I had initially thought and now I am thinking more towards foul play. Seems like the neighbors are feeling the same way. I still don’t get why she didn’t have her cell phone though.
(I apologize that I am assuming that it is her...I could be totally wrong)

 

[Ontario Mom]

The longer it goes, the less I think it's her.

I've followed other cases where remains that were not the missing person were found in the course of a search. Can't remember which ones off the top of my head though. It seems odd but it does happen.

It's not really that odd, I've also followed cases where the same has happened. In this case though, the odd thing is... as soon as a body was discovered, all searches for the missing young woman ended. Either the family & friends also believe this is Denise, or it's a major coincidence all searching stopped on the same day the body was located.

If it IS her, and there is obvious foul play, it's entirely possible LE is waiting for a critical piece of evidence to make an announcement, and an arrest. However, this is all pure speculation.

 

[OceanMermaid]

I don't really know. The park is mostly open space so you would think they would be searching those woods around the park. But they may have believed it was private property and didn't go behind those houses.

Here's what I find curious. Miriam said late Monday night that they would be updating everyone on foot searches to be taking place Tuesday. But there were no updates and no searches Tuesday. Late Tuesday night she said that they were suspending searches for the time being because they were waiting for instructions from the police. By 9 am Wednesday morning the police were knocking on the resident's door because they had found a body. So the police were out there in that area searching by early Wednesday (and possibly Tuesday) and it seems they had asked the volunteers not to go out.

I don't find it too unusual if the police asked volunteers not to search on Tuesday. Often when the police decide to bring in professional/LE searchers they don't want volunteers accidentally compromising a scene or confusing search dogs with too many scents. I can't find it now, but one of the articles linked above made it sound like police were doing a grid type search of a 1 mile radius of her house when they found the body. That is pretty much standard procedure. It's unfortunate that it took so long for them to do that kind of search, but it's probably because she is an adult and not considered endangered.

The body found was .2 miles from the house she lived in with her father and brother. I have family that lives in that same neighborhood. It's a very nice and safe area of Va. Beach. I read somewhere they had a tip to look there and then I thought the man that lives in the house said something about a smell. But can't be 100% on that.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

Here's what I find curious. Miriam said late Monday night that they would be updating everyone on foot searches to be taking place Tuesday. But there were no updates and no searches Tuesday. Late Tuesday night she said that they were suspending searches for the time being because they were waiting for instructions from the police. By 9 am Wednesday morning the police were knocking on the resident's door because they had found a body. So the police were out there in that area searching by early Wednesday (and possibly Tuesday) and it seems they had asked the volunteers not to go out.

This seems like a quick disposal site to attempt to indicate foul play on the homeowners close to it.
I’m not liking the Juvenile vibe I’m getting.......
JMO

RSABBM

I have been following from the beginning but haven’t posted. I certainly was not expecting this latest turn of events.

I may be completely off here, but it seems like perhaps LE received information either late Monday evening or early Tuesday morning that changed the direction of the investigation.

Possible scenario:

Maybe someone told a friend or a family member s/he had harmed Denise, and LE was contacted. LE brings the person in for an interview and also tells Denise’s friends to suspend searches until further notice. Alternatively, perhaps the person had already been interviewed before, but LE had him/her return for another one. Either way, the person finally tells LE early Wednesday morning where Denise can be found. LE goes straight to the location and finds Denise deceased.

Could someone please remind me if there has been a confirmed sighting of Denise since a neighbor saw her sitting in her yard the morning she was last seen, and if so, when and where?

 

[Jackeee]

I went back to page 1 to look at the photo of Denise. Her beautiful eyes are mesmerizing. It’s not that I don’t believe she has been found, I’m just not ready to go there yet. Denial, yes.

 

[whitelilac]

RSABBM

snipped for space

Could someone please remind me if there has been a confirmed sighting of Denise since a neighbor saw her sitting in her yard the morning she was last seen, and if so, when and where?

No confirmed sighting, just tips the friends followed through on.
However iirc, a dog alerted on a scent at an intersection near a church (can't remember the street names but it was some 10 miles away). Denise's dad and brother went to investigate that church. No further news about that...

 

[creepcrusher]

The body found was .2 miles from the house she lived in with her father and brother. I have family that lives in that same neighborhood. It's a very nice and safe area of Va. Beach. I read somewhere they had a tip to look there and then I thought the man that lives in the house said something about a smell. But can't be 100% on that.

Nowhere is a safe area sadly. Maybe safer. Unfortunately there are several sex offenders that live within 1 mile of the last place Denise was seen.

 

[Knox]

This whole case has been strange. It makes no sense that an ID hasn't been made based on dental records?

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

No confirmed sighting, just tips the friends followed through on.
However iirc, a dog alerted on a scent at an intersection near a church (can't remember the street names but it was some 10 miles away). Denise's dad and brother went to investigate that church. No further news about that...

Thank you so much for your response, whitelilac.

So it appears the last confirmed (though never acknowledged by LE) sighting of Denise was when a neighbor saw her by the front yard the morning of her disappearance:

“Martin was last seen by her father in the 2600 block Dunlace Way at around 7 or 8 a.m. Tuesday. However, Martin’s best friend, Miriam Loya, said police have confirmed that a neighbor saw Martin sitting by the front yard at 8:22 a.m.”
https://southsidedaily.com/local-ne...ontinues-for-missing-22-year-old-local-woman/

 

[Gardener1850]

This whole case has been strange. It makes no sense that an ID hasn't been made based on dental records?

Maybe they are having trouble getting her dental records to compare? Denise has not been missing very long so perhaps her family was hoping it would not come to this and had not yet gotten them from the dentist? Or maybe she has perfect teeth (which I learned from the UID forum doesn't really mean perfect but it means there is nothing obvious or remarkable about them to compare-- no fillings, no missing teeth, no crowding, etc). They may be waiting on DNA. JMO.

 

[GraceG]

Maybe they are having trouble getting her dental records to compare? Denise has not been missing very long so perhaps her family was hoping it would not come to this and had not yet gotten them from the dentist? Or maybe she has perfect teeth (which I learned from the UID forum doesn't really mean perfect but it means there is nothing obvious or remarkable about them to compare-- no fillings, no missing teeth, no crowding, etc). They may be waiting on DNA. JMO.

You may be correct. Teeth are considered the most surviving body tissues to the postmortem events that are undergone by the body tissues as a result of death. But Dental identification mainly depends upon comparing postmortem records with the antemortem ones.

The lack of dental information such as medical records or incomplete records is often the cause of the failure of dentistry examinations of human identification by dental means . This would be more common in children and young people, some of whom have never had dental work beyond cleanings. If Denise had limited dental work, the records may not be adequate enough to support positive identification. That means DNA, and unlike TV where that takes an hour, DNA ID can take weeks.

 

[carbuff]

Probably weeks for a current missing persons case, but we've seen it take months and years in quite a few cases.

I hate to say this, but depending on how the person died, there may have been attempts to obscure the identity, and that might be delaying matters as well.

 

[Mistree]

Probably weeks for a current missing persons case, but we've seen it take months and years in quite a few cases.

I hate to say this, but depending on how the person died, there may have been attempts to obscure the identity, and that might be delaying matters as well.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[Stripehaven]

I am wondering if the body found was not wearing clothing that could be identified as Denise’s?