Columnist Betty Munsey writes about

the need to keep flying Old Glory. A4

Smyth
County

News & Messenger

WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2015

www.swvatoday.com

Inmates
help care
for 100+
seized cats

Marion, Va.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Saltville resident Tom Carter, right,

had seen The Nature Boy Buddy
Landel at the Saltville Wave Pool
in years past and finally met him
on Saturday, June 20, two days before the former wrestler died at his
home in Chilhowie.

BY JASMINE DENT
Correspondent

Memories
of Landels
big heart
will linger
BY LINDA BURCHETTE
Staff

Campground in
the Sugar Grove
area. They were
seen twice on June
24 in the area of
Flat Ridge Road in
Sugar Grove.
H. Wilson
The
search
through rugged
terrain in the Sugar
Grove area has involved the Virginia
State Police MedFlight
helicopter, bloodhounds Shook
from the SCSO,
and dogs and officers with the
Virginia Department of Game
and Inland Fisheries. Assistance
has been provided by law enforcement agencies in Grayson,
Carroll, Washington and Wythe
counties, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and
the police department in Boone,
N.C.
Numerous tips are being followed, said Eller, but as of Tuesday none had produced positive
results. Some camping equipment found along the Appalachian Trail has been sent to a lab
for analysis.
Eller said there is no indication at this time that Hayleigh
and Shook have left the area.
The U.S. Marshals Service
has issued a $5,000 reward for
information leading to the arrest of Shook and Hayleighs safe

Tom Carter thinks a visit to the

Saltville Wave Pool on June 20 by
The Nature Boy Buddy Landel
might have been preordained.
It was a very special day for
Carter, manager of the pool, and
his lifeguards as they were each
spiritually touched by the former professional wrestler two
days before he died at his home
in Chilhowie.
Hed been there before (to
the pool), always bringing his
grandson with him, said Carter
this week as he remembered
Landel. I knew he was a wrestler but I didnt recognize him.
It was the black hair. I had seen
him wrestle many times. My sister was really into that. But he
was blonde then.
Carter said the first thing
Landel did when he came to the
pool that day was circle around
and ask when it opened. I told
the staff theres a famous wrestler visiting us, but I just cant remember his name, he said. So
he introduced himself and they
got to talking.
Carter told Landel about a
fundraiser being planned for a
little girl in Chilhowie with cystic fibrosis and showed him her
picture. He immediately volunteered to help, to come talk
and sign autographs. They also
talked about organizing a funny
softball tournament with teams
from each town to raise money
for a charity. Carter would like to
continue that project in memory of Landel.
While talking, Carter told
Landel about his double-lung
transplant. He told me I was
looking good and said show me
your scar if youre not embarrassed. So I showed him and he
put his hands on it and prayed.
He said you were put here for a
purpose. Youre a good guy. Wed
known each other about 15
minutes. Id never had anyone
do that.
Carter said Landel then started
talking to the lifeguards, asking
them what they wanted to do in
life, telling them about his life

See SEARCH, Page A7

See LANDEL, Page A7

LINDA BURCHETTE/SMYTH COUNTY NEWS & MESSENGER

Smyth County Sheriffs Office staff

and other law enforcement officers man a command center at
Sugar Grove Elementary School in
the search for a missing Tennessee
teen believed to be in the area in the
company of a man, who is wanted in
Georgia for failing to register as a
sex offender.

Missing teens father speaks

out as the search continues
Staff

The Smyth County Sheriffs

Office and area law enforcement
agencies continued searching
this week for a missing teen who
is believed to be in the company
of a 41-year-old man she reportedly met online. As the officers
searched, the 14-year-olds father issued a plea for his daughters safe return and Sheriff David Bradley urged people to stay
vigilant.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) issued an
Amber Alert early last week for
Hayleigh Cheyenne Wilson, 14years-old, 5-feet 5-inches tall,
150 pounds, with black hair and
hazel eyes, who left Surgoinsville, Tenn., late on Monday,
June 22, in the company of Benjamin Ben Shook.
Tennessee police said Shook is
described as a white male, 6-feet
3-inches tall, and 175 pounds
with brown hair and blue eyes
and multiple tattoos. He has active warrants and is an absconder from the sex offender registry
in Georgia; his previous charges
were for child molestation.
Hayleigh is said to have last
been seen wearing a flowery top
with dark Capri-length pants.
Shook is described as having
a partially shaven beard with
multiple tattoos on his body,
wearing a blue shirt, dark shorts
and dark tennis shoes.
Lt. Bill Eller with the Smyth
See CATS, Page A6

I want her to know

that her daddy loves
her and wont give up,
he said. I want her to
know that daddy loves
her to the moon and
back.
Eddie Wilson

County Sheriffs Office (SCSO)

said the search for Hayleigh and
Shook is centered in a 10- to
12-mile radius of Sugar Grove,
where Hayleigh and Shook were
last seen on Wednesday, June
24.
Tuesday afternoon, the SCSO
reported that tips are still coming in and that within the last 24
hours some of those tips have
been from other jurisdictions.
However, the SCSO said, none of
those tips had been confirmed
at the time. Sheriff Bradley
urged people to continue to be
vigilant and immediately report
any suspected sightings of the
two individuals.
TBI reported that Hayleigh and
Shook were positively identified
in a Walmart surveillance video
in Marion, N.C., early Tuesday
morning, June 23, and on video
at the Exxon station in Sugar
Grove on the same day between
4 and 5 p.m. They received a ride
from unsuspecting citizens on
Highway 16 and were dropped
off next to Raccoon Branch

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SEARCH FOR GIRL CONTINUES

Animal shelter asks

for communitys help

After providing several weeks of

seemingly nonstop care for more
than 100 cats, Smyth County Animal Shelter staff and volunteers
were finally granted some relief
when the Southwest Virginia
Regional Jail Authority agreed to
an inmate work release program
that began Monday.
Animal Control Chief Bill Turman said his staff and volunteers
were pleased to see the trustees
arrive at the shelter Monday
morning
Were very thankful to have
them. We really are, Turman
said. Those guys came in, listened to instructions and then
just got to working. Theyve really helped us out a lot.
The 109 felines have been in
the care of the shelter since their
seizure from former Appalachian
Animal Refuge director Terri C.
Blevins in May. The seizure was
the result of a complaint made to
animal control that the animals
had been severely neglected and
malnourished.
After a Smyth County judge
ruled that the shelter would
maintain custody of the felines
early last month, Turman said
he immediately began working
with other agencies to help find
more permanent placements for
them. Turman said the shelter
had made arrangements to place
more than half the felines with
those agencies beginning June
16. However, those plans came
to an abrupt halt on June 15
when the shelter learned Blevins
had filed an appeal with Smyth
County Circuit Court.
Once the appeal was filed we
couldnt continue making arrangements to place them, Turman said. Right now all we can
do is continue to care for them.
By that time, Turman said, staff
and volunteers alike had become
increasingly exhausted and overwhelmed by the daunting task of
caring for such a large number
of animals for an extended period of time. Turman explained
that since the shelter only has
two full-time and one part-time
employees, they have had to
rely heavily on assistance from
Smyth County Humane Society
volunteers.
The volunteers are whats
kept us afloat, but theyre getting
tired. They have jobs and lives
and its just too much for them
to be here day-in and day-out,
Turman said.
When it became apparent the
cats would have an extended
stay, the shelter decided to turn
to other channels for assistance
by means of an inmate work release program.
Its been suggested to us be-

Vol. 132, No. 56

Sports
Marion is hosting the
Virginia Little League
District 1 Baseball
Tournament for
11- and 12-year-olds.
The tourney started
Saturday and runs
into this weekend.

Floyd

Community
Check out the variety
of local and regional
Independence Day
weekend activities
coming up this Friday
and Saturday in our
Community Calendar
on page A5.

Deaths
Frances Marie Berry Anderson
Susie Wyatt Armstrong
Sidney Steve Steven Dixon
Marilyn Maxine Tuell Dungan
Hazel M. Ellis
Betty Jean Ganaway
Alexander Bill William Godwin Jr.
Sally A. Harris
Roy L. Hayes

Ralph Steven Steve Johnson

Cleveland Reeves Sonny Kirk
Bobby Junior McNew
James Jim Earl Rosenbaum Jr.
Richard Wayne Saine
Andrew Sandy Smith