Jarred Smith (PHOTO: Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office)
SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. — A 23-year-old Locust Grove man was charged with concealing a dead body after a Spotsylvania family discovered a deceased man near their home.
Deputies were called to the 11300 block of Enchanted Woods Way Sunday to investigate the death.
“Deputies and Detectives interviewed several citizens and were able to determine that [23-year-old Deandre Miller] Caldwell had been a passenger in [Jarred] Smith’s vehicle on August 2,” a Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s spokesperson said. “At some point Caldwell lost consciousness and during the excitement, Smith lost control of the vehicle veering off the roadway and into the ditch. Concerned citizens stopped at the crash scene to offer assistance and observed Caldwell laying in the ditch. Smith explained that it was his intoxicated friend laying in the ditch.”
Investigators later determined Caldwell had used heroin and lost consciousness.
“It is believed that Smith hid Caldwell’s body near a residence, in such a manner to make him not visible from the roadway just prior to law enforcement arriving on scene of the crash,” the sheriff’s office spokesperson said. “Caldwell’s remains would later be found [August 5] by residents returning home from vacation.”
Investigators arrested Jarred Smith, 23, of Locust Grove.
The victim was identified as Deandre Miller-Caldwell, 23, of Spotsylvania.
