Susan Capino
Susan Renea-Grace Capino
Born: 10 Feb 1980, Winchester, Virginia
Last seen: 17 Aug 1997, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Reported missing: 19 Aug 1997
Remains found: 8 Jun 2001, Keys Gap, Virginia
FBI called in on case of missing W.Va. girl
Clyd Ford
The Herald-Mail | Thursday, November 6, 1997
HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - West Virginia State Police said Wednesday that foul play hasn't been ruled out in the disappearance of a 17-year-old Harpers Ferry girl who has been missing since August.
FBI agents are involved in the search for Susan Capino, whose parents, Joyce and Richard Lonas, reported her as a runaway on Aug. 19, according to a written release from West Virginia State Police.
"We're not ignoring the possibility she's been kidnapped, abducted or something else happened to her," said Senior Trooper Jose Centeno, the lead investigator in the case.
"We have to find her first. Once we've found her, then we'll know," Centeno said.
About 30 FBI agents joined state police in their search for Capino in late September, state police said. Information about the girl's disappearance and the FBI's involvement in the case were made public Wednesday.
The FBI agents helped state police go door-to-door through the girl's West Ridge Hills neighborhood and collected "possible evidence from several locations," state police said.
Centeno and other state police officials would not comment on the nature of that possible evidence, or the locations from which it had been collected.
Centeno said the FBI has assisted closely in the case. He said the FBI can devote more resources to such a case, and the agency has national jurisdiction.
"The FBI has a great policy of helping children be located," Centeno said.
The girl has a history of medical problems and needs medication, Centeno said. He would not describe her health problems, citing the confidentiality of medical records.
He said the condition was not life-threatening, but a lack of medicine could cause problems for her.
The girl's parents told investigators their daughter left the house on Aug. 17 after an altercation with them, Centeno said.
Since then, no one has reported seeing her, and neighbors and her friends have been questioned, but without results, he said.
The girl is described as white, about 5 feet 2 inches tall, with short, blond hair and blue eyes. She weighs about 110 pounds.
When last seen, she was wearing a pink and orange swimsuit top, green denim shorts and black slip-on shoes, Centeno said.
Parents talk of missing W.Va. teenager
Clyd Ford
The Herald-Mail | Friday, November 7, 1997
HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - Susan Capino liked reading mysteries. Now her family has become embroiled in one in the wake of the teenager's disappearance.
On Aug. 19, Joyce Lonas reported to West Virginia State Police that her 17-year-old daughter had run away from home two nights earlier.
Since then, state police and the FBI have combed the woods around the family's house and talked to family members and neighbors.
Capino's stepfather, Richard Lonas, 48, said Thursday he believes the family has unfairly become the target of the state police and FBI investigation into his stepdaughter's disappearance.
"I think the FBI is trying to do their job, but they're looking in the wrong direction," Richard Lonas said.
"I've tried to cooperate with them. I took a lie detector test and it came back inconclusive. They asked me to take another one, but they got the whole family upset so I didn't," Richard Lonas said.
West Virginia State Police said Wednesday they cannot rule out that Capino has been the victim of foul play.
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and state police troopers searched the thickly wooded neighborhood situated along a mountain last weekend.
They also executed a search warrant at Capino's parents' home and impounded two of their vehicles, her parents said.
State police said Wednesday that possible evidence had been seized from several locations. Investigators would not comment on what might have been found or where they found it.
Richard and Joyce Lonas said that about 70 FBI agents and state troopers showed up at their house last Saturday morning with a search warrant.
"They upset our kids. They could have used more tact," Joyce Lonas, 39, said.
"The FBI didn't need to bring that many into our home," Richard Lonas said.
A night in August
On the night of Aug. 17, Richard Lonas said he asked Capino to do the dishes and she refused and went to her bedroom. A short time later, he heard her leave the house, he said.
Richard Lonas said he looked in the yard for her and saw a shadowy figure in the light from a car door opening.
"All I saw was the back tail lights of a vehicle. I hollered for her to come back," Richard Lonas said.
He said he believes his stepdaughter may have made plans with someone to meet her on the lane and take her away.
Joyce Lonas said she was at work at the Sheetz convenience store in Brunswick, Md., that day.
Joyce Lonas said they did not report her daughter missing immediately because they thought she would return.
"With a 17-year-old - I figured she went out to go with friends," she said.
She said her daughter has a boyfriend, but they do not believe she is with him. She said the boyfriend does not have a car and lives in a homeless shelter for children.
Joyce Lonas said her daughter had run away a couple of times when she was 14 years old, but had returned right away.
Joyce Lonas spoke to a state police trooper on Aug. 19 to report her daughter as a runaway, she said. She put up posters with her daughter's picture and description throughout the community.
"She could have run off with some boy," Joyce Lonas said.
The couple said their daughter has epilepsy and needs medication. Richard Lonas said Susan had brain surgery in January to try to stop her seizures.
"Susan tended to have more adult friends than kids her own age because they'd tease her about her seizures," Joyce Lonas said.
`A bit of a loner'
"She was a bit of a loner," her mother said. "She liked to read - mysteries and romance - and write poems. She would write poems about things happening in the world. She wrote a poem about the bombing in Oklahoma."
"We hope to God they find her soon," Joyce Lonas said.
Joyce Lonas said her daughter left with only the clothes she was wearing.
Police said Susan was wearing a pink and orange swimsuit top, green denim shorts and black slip-on shoes.
Richard Lonas said that he had told Susan she could not wear an outfit like that outside because the world is not a safe place. "You never know when someone is going to do something," he said.
The Lonases live in the Westridge Hills subdivision off Chestnut Hill Road, a Blue Ridge Mountain neighborhood along the Virginia state line.
Narrow dirt and gravel roads wind their way up the hillside through a community of trailer homes and wood A-frames surrounded by trees, junked cars, trash bags and large, barking dogs.
The woods are so thick that several residents said they cannot see their neighbors' homes until the leaves fall from the trees in winter.
"Susan liked going in the woods, and any type of animals, any kind of snakes," Richard Lonas said.
The area is marked by vacant houses, their windows shattered and doors missing.
About 60 families live in the neighborhood.
Several residents said they learned the girl was missing when they saw a flier posted at the bottom of the hill where the community's mailboxes are located. About two weeks ago, the flier disappeared.
Residents said they were surprised to see so many FBI agents and state troopers going through the woods last weekend in the rain. The investigators also went door to door, asking questions.
"There's so much woods to cover. It'd be almost impossible to try to cover it all," said Jennifer Migliaccio, 23.
Migliaccio, her husband and their children moved to the hill from the Washington, D.C., area. She said she had grandparents who lived at Westridge and she remembers the neighborhood used to be one in which close-knit families looked out for each other.
They left Washington to get away from crime, she said.
"It bothers me that it happened that close. It's a fact of life we've had to get accustomed to that no matter where we'll go, we'll never get away from it," Migliaccio said.
"I'd like to believe she's a runaway," said Michael Migliaccio.
"I think she's alive," said neighbor Scott Longerbeam, 31, who said he occasionally saw the teenager walking through the woods
Search continues for Jefferson teen
Charleston Gazette | Saturday, November 8, 1997
HARPERS FERRY (AP) - Dozens of police officers looking for a 17-year-old girl have searched her home, impounded cars, and scoured the surrounding woods. They've questioned neighbors. They've used a lie detector on her stepfather. But the question remains: Did Susan Capino run away after an argument over dirty dishes, or was she the victim of foul play?
The Jefferson County teen was last seen after she went to her bedroom after refusing to wash the supper dishes, her family said. She was reported missing two days later, on Aug. 19, authorities said.
Her stepfather, Richard Lonas, said he believes the family has been unfairly targeted by the State Police and FBI investigation after a search warrant was executed last weekend.
About 40 FBI agents joined State Police investigators in searching the woods around the home, officials said.
"We don't have any suspects, but we haven't ruled anyone out either. We've got to look at every possibility," said Bill Crowley, spokesman for the FBI's Pittsburgh division.
FBI revives search for missing girl
Charleston Daily Mail | Saturday, November 8, 1997
HARPERS FERRY - The family of a 17-year-old girl missing since August has unfairly become the target of a state police and FBI investigation, the girl's stepfather said.
About 40 agents joined state police investigators in executing a search warrant in the home of Susan Capino and searching the surrounding woods last weekend. Two cars also have been impounded.
The girl's stepfather, Richard Lonas, said the last time he saw his stepdaughter was on Aug. 17, when he asked her to do the dishes. She refused and went to her bedroom before he heard her leave the house, he said.
He said he looked in the yard for her and saw a shadowy figure in the light from a car door opening.
"All I saw was the back tail lights of a vehicle. I hollered for her to come back," he said.
She was reported missing two days later, on Aug. 19, authorities said.
"We don't have any suspects, but we haven't ruled anyone out either. We've got to look at every possibility," said Bill Crowley, spokesman for the FBI's Pittsburgh division.
The FBI's assistance was requested by local officials as in the case of Jessica Newell, a 7-year-old girl whose body was found in September near Martinsburg. Her uncle was charged with murder.
The FBI's massive response in both cases is in keeping with FBI Director Louis Freeh's focus on swiftly resolving missing persons cases involving children, Crowley said Friday.
Joyce Lonas said she and her husband did not report her daughter missing immediately because they thought she had gone out with friends. They figured she would return eventually, Mrs. Lonas said.
The couple say they need to locate their daughter because she has epilepsy and needs medication. Richard Lonas said Susan had brain surgery in January to try to stop her seizures.
Search continues for missing girl
The Herald-Mail | Tuesday, November 11, 1997
HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - West Virginia State Police are still searching for a missing 17-year-old Harpers Ferry, W.Va., girl who had been reported as a runaway on Aug. 19 by her parents.
Senior Trooper Jose Centeno said Monday he is mainly interested in finding Susan Capino.
"At this point, we're not looking for any suspects. We're looking for the missing child. The main focus of this investigation is to find the juvenile," Centeno said.
Her stepfather, Richard Lonas, said last week he believes he and the family have become the targets of the investigation by state police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation looking into her disappearance.
Centeno said any investigation into a possible crime against her is secondary to finding Capino.
"The first thing we need to do is find the child," Centeno said.
Centeno said the state police need the assistance of the public in finding her.
Anyone with information about her may call the Jefferson County barracks at 1-304-725-9779.
Crime & Justice
The Washington Post | Wednesday, June 13, 2001
Loudoun County authorities yesterday identified a skeleton found last week near the West Virginia border as that of a 17-year-old Harpers Ferry girl who was reported missing in 1997.
Susan Capino's remains were discovered Friday by police cadets as they searched the woods around a Hillsboro area home for evidence in a May 21 fatal shooting at the house.
West Virginia State Police said the Virginia medical examiner identified the remains using dental records and had not yet determined the cause of death.
Capino was last seen by her family Aug. 17, 1997, when she got into an argument with her stepfather after he asked her to wash the dinner dishes, West Virginia State Police said. Police said the teenager ran from the house and was not seen again.
Obituary - Susan R.G. Capino
The Herald-Mail | Wednesday, June 27, 2001
HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - Susan Renea Grace Capino, 17, of Westridge Hills, died August 1997 in Virginia.
Born Feb. 10, 1980, in Winchester, Va., she was the daughter of Joyce Roop Capino-Lonas and the late Roy B. Capino Sr. She was the stepdaughter of Richard Lonas of Harpers Ferry.
She was an 11th-grade student at Jefferson High School in Shenandoah Junction, W.Va.
She is survived by two sisters, Samanatha Capino and Audrey Lonas, both at home; two brothers, Steven Capino of Inwood, W.Va., and Matthew Lonas, at home; and one stepbrother; Jacob Lonas of Baltimore.
A memorial service will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church, Harpers Ferry. The Rev. Donnie Cardwell will officiate. Burial will be private.
There will be no visitation.
Memorial donations may be made to Missing and Exploited Children, 699 Prince St., Suite 50, Arlington, VA 22314-3175.
Arrangements are by Melvin T. Strider Colonial Funeral Home in Charles Town.
Crime & Justice
The Washington Post | Friday, June 29, 2001
A West Virginia teenager whose remains were found in Loudoun County this month was killed by a blow to the head, according to an affidavit for a search warrant filed yesterday in Fairfax County.
Loudoun County investigators yesterday seized Susan Capino's skeleton from a Fairfax County funeral home. Capino's family had planned to cremate the remains, but investigators wanted to preserve the remains as evidence, according to the affidavit.
Capino, 17, was last seen by her family Aug. 17, 1997, when she got into an argument with her stepfather after he asked her to do the dinner dishes, West Virginia State Police said. The stepfather said Capino ran from the house and never returned.
Her remains were discovered June 8 by police cadets searching the woods near a Hillsboro area house in connection with an unrelated killing. The affidavit marks the first time Capino's death has been called a homicide.
Missing Teen Died for Blow to Head
The Washington Times | Tuesday, July 3, 2001
LEESBURG - The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office has determined that a teen-ager who had been missing nearly four years was killed by a blow to the head.
The bones of 17-year-old Susan Capino, who vanished from West Virginia in August 1997, were found last month in Loudoun County. An autopsy positively identified the bones as the remains of the missing girl.
The skeletal remains were found in a small clearing in Keys Gap by investigators looking for clues in another killing.
Missing teen murdered, medical examiners say
Charleston Gazette | Friday, July 5, 2001
CHARLES TOWN - Virginia medical examiners say 17-year-old Susan Capino, whose body was found recently after she disappeared from her Harpers Ferry house in 1997, was killed by blunt force trauma to the head.
Capino was hit in the face near the right eye, said state Trooper Dean Olack, who is working on the case with deputies from the Loudoun County, Va., sheriff's office. Police have not determined where she was killed.
Capino disappeared in August 1997 after a reported fight with her stepfather over dirty dinner dishes. Her family reported her missing two days later.
Her incomplete skeletal remains were found in a wooded area last month by cadets with a criminal justice academy in Virginia. They were scouring the area just outside the border off W.Va. 9 for clues to the unrelated shooting of a Virginia man.
The case is not connected to a similar one involving 19-year-old Eric Cheeks, a hiker whose body was found April 22 just off the Appalachian Trail a year after he disappeared, Olack said.
Unknown Original Article Source
This article geographically ties together the deaths Susan Capino and Eric Cheeks
Found posted to an online forum on November 17, 2001
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Investigators said they cannot determine the cause of death of a 19-year-old Harpers Ferry, W.Va., man because of the advanced decomposition of the victim's body when it was found on Blue Ridge Mountain in Loudoun County, Va., last April.
Cheeks' skeletal remains were found about 300 feet off the Appalachian Trail near the West Virginia/Virginia stateline on April 23.
Although Cheeks' cause of death cannot be determined, police are investigating his death as a homicide
Cheeks' remains were the first of three bodies that were found within a roughly half-mile area of Blue Ridge Mountain between April 23 and early June, police said.
In early June, human bones found off a dirt road about a half-mile into Virginia from the West Virginia line were determined to be those of Susan Capino, who had been missing since 1997, police said.
Police found Capino's remains while they were doing follow-up investigation work at a house along the dirt road where a man had been found dead earlier with a gunshot wound to the head, said Capt. Randy Bandura of the Loudoun County Sheriff's Department.
Patrick Blair Hornbaker, 32, was found dead in the house May 21, Bandura said.
Despite the fact the three bodies were found close together and within a short period of time, police have said they do not believe the three cases are connected.