Rumours swirled around the death of Bethany Lynn Stephens, a young woman from rural Virginia who, authorities said, was mauled to death by her dogs while on a walk last week.
Many suspected that someone else killed her and doubted that the dogs were responsible. Goochland County Sheriff Jim Agnew said the misinformation, particularly on social media, was widespread and has complicated the investigation. So he decided to disclose one gruesome detail that he had been reluctant to divulge out of concern for Stephens' family — in hopes of reassuring the public that there isn't a killer on the loose.
Shortly after officers found Stephens' body, guarded by her two dogs, they began talking about how to catch the animals. When they turned back around, they saw the dogs had walked to the body.
"I observed, as well as four other deputy sheriffs observed," Agnew said, then paused before continuing, "the dogs eating the rib cage on the body."
A friend of Stephens was later able to capture the dogs, the sheriff said.
Agnew held a news conference Monday afternoon, four days after Stephens' father found her in a wooded area about a kilometre from a main road in Goochland, a community about 50km outside Richmond. Authorities said the 22-year-old had been gone for about a day since leaving to walk her dogs, so her father went out to look for her in the area she frequented. There, he found the canines, guarding what he first thought was an animal carcass.
"Stephens was terribly, terribly injured, but it was very apparent to us that she had been dead for quite some time," Agnew told reporters, adding later that the damage to her body "was so extensive that there was nothing left to compare bite marks to".
Agnew said many have inundated his office and social media with calls, emails, attacks and false narratives about how Stephens died. He told the Washington Post earlier that investigators don't suspect foul play and that evidence recovered from the scene, including defensive wounds on her hands and arms, showed that the dogs were responsible for her death.
Investigators also have looked into statements from other witnesses, including the possibility that Stephens was killed by someone or something else and that the dogs were trying to protect her. But Agnew said at least one of the dogs had a significant amount of blood on its collar and neck.
"We're still doing some forensic tests. We're still doing interviews," Agnew said. "But from the evidence that we observed, from the evidence that we collected, that narrative doesn't fit."
Authorities said the bite marks on Stephens, including on her skull, were consistent with canine marks. Had she been attacked by a bigger animal, such as a bear, Agnew said, the bites would have punctured her skull.
Shawn Whitlock, an investigator with the sheriff's office, said there was no sign that she was killed any other way.
"Nothing that said domestic violence. Nothing that said she was stabbed. Nothing that said she was shot. No bones, no injuries to the throat area . . . There was no particular bleeding inside the esophagus, which would've been conducive with choking her. None of that," Whitlock told reporters.
There is also no evidence she had been sexually assaulted, authorities said.
But at least one question remains: why did these dogs, who friends said had a strong bond with Stephens, turn on her?
"I don't think there's any way we can definitively say what caused the attack," Agnew told reporters.
But Sergeant Mike Blackwood of the sheriff's office suggests the dogs may have become distant from their owner because Stephens had been living elsewhere and had left the dogs with her father. The dogs, which were previously indoor animals, were left in a kennel outside with little human contact, aside from a visit from Stephens about five times a week, Blackwood told reporters.
"Just trying to create a little background with what might have occurred with that when they became a little distant from their owner towards the end," he said.
Stephens' friend Barbara Norris was among those who weren't convinced by authorities' account of her death, saying the dogs, which Stephens had raised since they were puppies, would never turn on her, ABC affiliate WRIC reported.
"They'd kill you with kisses," Norris told NBC affiliate WWBT.
Norris said the dogs' kennels looked as though they had been forced open and suggested that something may have happened to Stephens after she walked the dogs, so the animals broke out to help her.
Authorities said earlier that the dogs were bred for fighting — a piece of information apparently provided by one of Stephens's friends.
"We have been able to follow that up today, and we have determined that that is false," Agnew said.
Earlier estimates that the dogs each weighed up to 55kg also were overstated, he said, adding that he does not have the exact weight of the animals. Agnew told the Post earlier that he estimates the dogs had a combined weight of about twice that of Stephens, who weighed a little more than 45kg.
"They were very large dogs. They were not quite that large, no," Agnew said.
During an earlier news conference, he had described the dogs as "very large brindle-colored pit bulls," although the dogs' specific breeds are unknown.
The dogs were euthanised Saturday, with the family's permission.
"I think it was in the best interest of our community and for public safety to do that," Agnew said. "Once a dog tastes human flesh, it's no longer safe to have that dog around humans."
Their bodies are being preserved until authorities find a lab that can perform a necropsy, Blackwood said. Toxicology results on Stephens will not be available for three months.
Agnew said Stephens' family is convinced with investigators' findings.
"They are devastated. They are worn out. They are dealing with trying to piece everything together and filtering out the misinformation. They wish to remain private, and it's been very difficult on them," Agnew said.
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