CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — A husband was on the phone with his wife when she was abducted from an apartment complex parking lot in Chesapeake, according to court records.
Laura Miles, 61, was abducted from an apartment complex parking lot in the 3500 block of Clover Road on May 17. Originally from New York, the Chesapeake Police Department confirmed that Miles was living in a nearby Airbnb for about a month before she was attacked.
Miles’ body was discovered later that day in a wooded area behind a YMCA located at 4626 Taylor Road. She had several stab wounds on her body, court records state.
Raheem Lamont Cherry, 19, is charged with first-degree murder, robbery and abduction, and concealment of a dead body in connection with Miles’ death. He is scheduled to appear in Chesapeake General District Court for his arraignment on Aug. 11.
Miles was on the phone with her husband when she was abducted. He told police he heard her scream and then what sounded like a struggle before the call was disconnected. He tried to call his wife back several times, but she never answered the phone. He called the CPD to report the abduction, according to court records.
Miles’ husband also received odd text messages from her number after the attack — texts he knew she wouldn’t have written. One text claimed that Miles was “okay,” but her husband said she never spelled that word that particular way. She also didn’t tell him that she loved him, which was how she ended every text conversation, court records state.
Detectives responded to the scene and found Miles’ 2020 Ford F-150 near the intersection of Bangor Drive and Meadows Way. There were drops and smears of blood in the truck’s bed. Police also found Cherry’s fingerprints on the truck, according to court records.
A detective also watched video footage of Cherry, clad in a plaid shirt, a camouflage head cover, and black slide-on shoes, enter a nearby apartment about 20 minutes before Miles was abducted. In an interview, Cherry told investigators he was staying with his girlfriend at the apartment. Police searched it and found a folding box cutter, a blue camouflage head covering, and a flannel jacket.
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