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Austin Griffin, left, and Christopher Meeks, right
Opal Page
Less than 24 hours after two Nelson County men were charged with first-degree murder in connection with last week’s stabbing death of a 73-year-old Afton woman, authorities said they have found the weapon they believe was used.
Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks said a knife was found in woods behind Quadrangle Apartments on 4th street in Waynesboro, less than a mile from where authorities found Opal Page’s 1998 green Chevrolet Malibu May 7.
Brooks said other “items of interest” were recovered as well.
Christopher Meeks, 18, of Shipman, and Austin Griffin, 20, of Afton, also were charged with grand larceny, petit larceny and burglary.
The two men are being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail and are scheduled for an arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Brooks said Meeks was found Monday afternoon on Misty Hollow Road in Amherst County, and Griffin was found near his home in Afton around 5 p.m.
Authorities found Opal Page stabbed to death in her ranch-style home in the 7200 block of Rockfish Valley Highway May 6 after she was reported to have missed a lunch date.
Page, a retired elementary school teacher’s aide, lived alone in a modest home on an isolated portion of the highway. Her death shocked friends and neighbors, who described her as kind and gentle. Her funeral was Sunday.
Community involvement and tips were key in the capture of the two men, Brooks said, and that the sheriff’s office was not seeking any other suspects in Page’s death.
“This is what happens when you work together,” Brooks said. “One tip leads to another tip and its like the piece of the puzzle that comes together.”
Brooks said Nelson County sheriff’s investigator Becky Adcock and Augusta sheriff’s investigator Paul McCormick were instrumental in the events leading to the arrests.
Page’s body was discovered after her neighbor, Frank Armentrout, called authorities around 6:30 p.m. last Wednesday to check on her.
Nelson deputies arrived to find Page in a pool of blood and her car missing.
Armentrout said he last saw Page’s car leaving her home before 6 a.m. and headed north on Virginia 151.
The car had been parked at the home when Armentrout placed a newspaper on Page’s porch 90 minutes earlier, Brooks said.
The vehicle was found in the 1000 block of B Street in Waynesboro, a day after Page’s body was found.
Authorities then began a region-wide manhunt for the suspects that involved investigators from several law enforcement agencies, including the Virginia State Police and the Waynesboro Police Department.
On Friday, authorities released descriptions of two men who were reported to have been in the area of Page’s home early Wednesday.
Brooks said that asking for tips culminated in the arrests.
“It most certainly worked out in this matter,” Brooks said.
Brooks said nothing else was taken from Page’s home besides her vehicle.
Page had been a longtime teacher’s aide at the former Rockfish Valley Elementary School, working mostly with kindergarten students before moving on to Rockfish River Elementary School, where she continued to volunteer after retiring five years ago, said Principal Nita Hughes.
Page’s body was sent to a state medical examiner’s office in Richmond for an autopsy.
Her funeral was in Afton on Mother’s Day.
The homicide was the first in Nelson County since 2007.
Reader Reactions
crispy daisy what is your position at the N&A, that you do not seem to want to hold the newspaper responsible for more accurate journalism?
Gordie, nowhere does it say the investigation is over, only that no other suspects are being sought. I’m quite sure the investigation isn’t over because there will still be evidence to collect and people to interview in preparation for the suspects’ trials.
There apparently is no reason at this time to think that there was a third person involved, but that doesn’t mean the case has just come to a screeching halt.
Thank You crispy daisy and it is possible that what you say happened actually happened, BUT you seem to miss my point.
As you pointed out the case is not over till the trail is over, so my point is the investigation should not be over till the trail is over. In some cases the investigation goes on even after the trail is over. I do not understand this willingness to find someone to hold accountable and quit while there could be others.
Answer this question? Who wrote the note of directions to the house in a fancy handwriting?
Of course all MAY come out at the trail, but where are the questions from the news media about some of what is written here? Do they have answers?
This article has Erin McGrath as the reporter, while the Daily Progress says Media General. They are all part of Media General, so where is the rest of the story and answers to questions? Were the questions even asked?
Gordie, since the police have been investigating the case and have collected evidence and testimony, I assume there’s a reason they think there wasn’t anyone else involved.
Isn’t it possible that they drove to the victim’s house together and only one of them drove the stolen car away? And the car wasn’t found until the day after the murder, so the two suspects had plenty of time to get to where they were going. Among other possibilities, after the car was abandoned one of them could have easily given the other one a ride.
My point is that the police detectives aren’t so stupid that they would not have asked these questions themselves and found answers that indicated there was nobody else involved.
Yeh, they who live in their own little world.
Here is a copy and paste from the Daily Progress in Charlottesville. Pease note the last sentence in the paragraph.
“”“Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks said Meeks was found in Amherst County on Misty Hollow Road around noon Monday. Griffin was found on Crawford’s View Road near his home in Afton on Monday afternoon, Brooks said, adding that no other suspects are being sought in the case”“”.
Yes if one wants to be picky, I should have written the investigation is over, knowing fully well that the case is not over till the trial is over. My mistake for not using the right word.
Gordie, what makes you think the case is closed? A case isn’t closed until someone is convicted of the crime. The fact that two people have been arrested doesn’t mean that police have just stopped working on it. Do you think they should have waited to find a possible third person before arresting these two?
Good work Sher. Brooks and others.
Unanswered questions?
How did the pair get to Page’s home?
How did the pair get from Waynesboro to Afton and Amherst?
The case is closed, when it seems there may be an accomplice?
I assume the two IDIOTS, had nothing better to do…than to kill an innocent, harmless woman. Their parents must be SOOO proud….
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