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Woman says she was with suspect in Ahrea'L Smith's abduction the night before her disappearance

Posted at 11:24 PM, Jan 19, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-20 13:22:23-05

HEATHSVILLE, Va. -- The night before Ahrea’L Smith disappeared, abduction suspect Tyrone Samuels allegedly had another woman at his house.

The woman, who we'll call F.A., spoke with CBS 6 about what went on which eventually led to her demanding to go home.

"I’ve been to his house two times,” F.A., who said the night before Ahrea’L Smith's disappearance that she was with Samuels at his trailer home. "I went over there. He called me two times asking if I wanted to hang out. He asked me out to dinner a few times, but I said no. I went over there Tuesday night and he tried kissing up on my stomach and stuff like that and I said, ‘No.’ I want to go home. I felt uncomfortable."

She said that she felt so uncomfortable, she had to tell someone.

“I didn't tell deputies, but I told my family because my family knew I hung around him," F.A. said.

Investigators are still in the process of securing more charges against Samuels.

On Tuesday, the Northumberland County Sheriff's Office shared that they found abody matching Smith's description on a property in Heathsville.

"After an extensive search operation throughout the day, search crews located a body matching the description of Ahrea'L Smith on a property in Heathsville. Her body will be sent to the Medical Examiner's office in Richmond for an autopsy," Northumberland Sheriff Johnny Beauchamp said. "More charges will be sought in connection to finding her today."

Beauchamp asked the public to keep Ahrea'L's family in their prayers.

Now that investigators believe they recovered her body from Samuels' property, the medical examiner will help investigators along with other information.

Officials are still working on a timeline of events from the Little Sue’s convenience store where Ahrea’L worked to Samuel’s home in Heathsville and any place in between.

"It'll help us figure out a motive. It's not just from the incident onwards, it's pre-incident, too to see what was going on, if we can determine anything at all."

Deputies say talking to Anderson will be part of their work over the next few days. She may be able to help them piece things together before Ahrea’L’s abduction.

"The fact that I was with him Tuesday is just killing me and I wish I could've done something to help her,” F.A. said.

Samuels will be arraigned Friday morning. The sheriff did not want to say whether he is cooperating with his detectives.

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