Sheena West Virginia Beach woman found dead after going missing while out with friends. Cause of death remains undetermined and unknown pending autopsy.
A Virginia woman has been found dead after vanishing over the weekend during a night out with friends, police said.
Sheena West, a 36-year-old mom, took off without a word while out Saturday night on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach, while leaving behind her phone and wallet while out at a tapas bar, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
She was reported missing the next day, with friends posting pleas on social media asking for help.
Surveillance photos were shared of West at the tapas bar Central Shore, where a man appeared to be leading her out of the establishment, the outlet reported.
‘She’s been missing since Saturday night with no car, phone or wallet, hasn’t been home or to work, and isn’t in the jail or hospital either. She was last seen on shore drive with us and she just disappeared,’ posted West’s friend Desiree Czoschke on Facebook, adding that her friends were ‘worried sick.’
‘Sheena would never leave with a stranger’
Posted friend & animal care work colleague, Leigh Ann Dowdy Conner, ‘Sheena would never leave with a stranger. She loves her people and she loves her job. She would never willingly disappear.’
But on Tuesday, family and friends learned that West had died at a home in Norfolk, about 10 miles away from where she was last seen.
Norfolk police said they had responded around 8:30 a.m. Sunday to a call about an unresponsive woman at a Hillside Avenue residence. It is unclear to whom the home belongs.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and later identified as West. West’s lack of ID or phone is believed to have led to delays in authorities in identifying her and notifying her family.
Undetermined death
Police said the case is being classified as an ‘undetermined death,’ but foul play is not suspected at this time. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine her official cause of death, WAVY-TV reports.
Not immediately clear is how or why West came to arrive at the home, at what time she arrived at the home and what may have occurred during her time of arrival and eventual death pending autopsy results.
West was a native of Plainwell, Michigan and had worked at the Center for Animal Healing in Virginia Beach since August 2019, according to her social media profiles.
The animal care center where West worked announced it was closed Wednesday in the wake of their colleague’s death.
‘We are closed today to try to catch our breath and mourn our friend Sheena West,’ the Center For Animal Healing, Virginia Beach Pet Wellness Center, posted on Facebook.
Adding, ‘We are utterly heartbroken. And completely devastated for her family.’
