Body of Missing Woman Found Near Her Home

The body of a Virginia woman reported missing Tuesday after her young children were found home alone was discovered Thursday morning about a mile from her house, WTVR reports. According to WVEC, the 23-year-old acquaintance who led authorities to the leaf-covered body of 23-year-old TerriLynn St. John has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. "The closure on this is not good closure, but it is closure," Middlesex Sheriff's Major Michael Sampson says. Sampson says investigators talked to Alvin Keyser on Wednesday evening, and he called them Thursday morning, helping them find St. John's body, Fox 5 reports. Authorities say Keyser knows both St. John and the father of her children, though the exact nature of their relationship has not been released. The Sheriff's Office says Keyser was investigated based on a social media post.

St. John was reported missing by her family when she failed to show up for work Tuesday. Relatives found her children, ages 3 and 1, home alone—St. John's boyfriend with whom she was living had left for work hours earlier—and there were signs of a struggle near her car. “Jewelry was all around, like it had been broken off; her cell phone was found in the bushes," St. John's father says. St. John had been preparing to drop her children off at daycare before going to work. A cause of death has yet to be released. Her children are currently staying with their father's grandfather. The Sheriff's Office says more people will be interviewed and more charges are likely. (More murder stories.)