Human remains found in car that missing Ridgeway woman was last driving

Jeneen Lavita Valentine was last seen July 3

Jeneen Lavita Valentine pictured with a silver 2002 Toyota Solara, the same make and model as the one in which she may be traveling. (Henry County Sheriff's Office)

HENRY COUNTY, Va. – Authorities may have found the body of a woman last seen earlier this summer.

On Sunday, at 12:20 p.m., authorities in Henry County received a 911 call that a vehicle had been found over a steep embankment in the 2900 block of Chestnut Knob Road in Ridgeway, according to the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.

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Deputies responded and found a silver 2002 Toyota Solara with Virginia tags VC-3019.  This is the same vehicle that Jeneen Lavita Valentine was driving at the time of her disappearance in July.

Late last month, the Sheriff’s Office updated the case, to say that investigators have searched Valentine’s home, the surrounding area and nearby roads on both on the ground and via drone for any evidence related to her disappearance.

Inside the Toyota, authorities found human remains, which were taken to the medical examiner’s office for identification and an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.

The vehicle appears to have been traveling north on Chestnut Knob Road when it exited the roadway, went over the embankment and stopped in an area of brush and heavy vegetation where it was difficult to see until the foliage fell, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The vehicle crash is currently under investigation by the Virginia State Police.