RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia family is grieving after a DNA hit returned July 7 identified remains found in Caroline County as Helen Pullen Banks, months after her body was discovered in the woods off Bagby Road in Sparta.
Investigators were called to the scene on March 27 after a man riding an ATV through the woods discovered the remains. The condition of the body delayed identification for months until the DNA match came back to the state lab.
Retha Pullen, Helen's mother, said her daughter was the oldest of her children.
Retha said her daughter had struggled with addiction and disappointments since she was 16, but never imagined her life would end this way.
"It's just not right. It's just evil. It's just pure evil," she said.
Helen Pullen Banks spent much of her life in Culpeper County, where her mother still lives. After a run-in with the law and a battle with addiction, she moved to Richmond trying to get help.
Her mother said she worries her daughter may not have been the only victim targeted.
"She did have weaknesses. To go around and just pick people up and do that, it makes me wonder, is she the only one?" Retha said.
Four days after Pullen Banks was discovered, 18-year-old Jayden McComber was found about 5 miles away, partially submerged in a pond. Deputies confirmed the two cases are connected.
Four young adults have since been arrested and indicted by a grand jury on a list of serious charges, including two counts of first-degree murder.
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"It's unfair," Retha said. "I just sit here and I just can not imagine the hell she went through, and I'm pretty sure she was a fighter. I know she probably did fight the best she could."
Helen Pullen Banks is survived by five children and six grandchildren. Her family said they are now fighting for her justice.
"You took a precious thing from me," Retha said. "You took a mother of five kids, a grandmother of six kids. I just can't imagine what was going through y'all's minds to do such things."
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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