UPDATE: John Douglas Cornell turned himself in to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. He called police Tuesday morning and told them he was in a parking lot on Route 218/White Oak Road near the Stafford/King George line. “He was arrested standing next to Roberta Dews’ stolen Chevrolet van,” investigators said in a media advisory.
STAFFORD, Va. (WTVR) – Stafford County investigators are looking for a man wanted for questioning in connection to a woman’s death.
John Douglas Cornell, 45, is charged with grand larceny.
He is believed to be driving a tan or gold 1999 Chevrolet Venture Van that belonged to Ms. Roberta Dews.
Dews, 59, was found dead in her Stafford home Sunday. Investigators want to question Cornell about her death.
“Stafford deputies responded to what was originally a cardiac arrest call. When deputies arrived on scene the investigation indicated that the woman that rescue was called for, was the victim of a homicide,” Stafford County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Bill Kennedy wrote in a media advisory. “Ms. Dews was found deceased by a family member who had come by the house on Sunday to check on her welfare.”
Investigators called Cornell a “known associate” of Dews.
Investigators said the missing van has a Virginia license plate “JAH-1325.”
It also has a rusty rear hitch.
Anyone with information about John Robert Cornell is asked to call Stafford County Sheriff’s Office at 540-658-4400 or Detective Todd Nosal at 540-658-4450.
