Victim’s family increases reward to $50,000

Liz Mitchell / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: May 12, 2007

Heidi and Steve Swartz are hoping an increased reward might spur someone to talk about their daughter's unsolved case.

Justine Abshire, a 27-year-old Barboursville resident and kindergarten teacher at Emerald Hill Elementary School, was killed in an apparent hit-and-run Nov. 3 near the Orange-Greene county line.

The Swartz family had previously offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who could provide information that leads to an arrest and conviction. This week, they increased the pot to $50,000.

"We feel like the police are making progress and the investigation is going well. But we believe there are people out there who may have seen something or know something and we are hoping one of them will come forward," Heidi Swartz said. "I strongly feel that in a community as small as where she lived that someone knows something."

Heidi Swartz said the events of her daughter's death don't seem to add up, and she hopes the case will come to some resolve.

Police say Abshire called her husband, Eric, in the early morning hours to pick her up on Taylorsville Road because she was having car trouble. Between the time of her call and his arrival at 1:40 a.m., she walked down the road and was struck by a vehicle that left the scene. Police arrived at 1:57 a.m.

Swartz said her daughter wasn't feeling well that night and took some cold medicine. She said it would be unlike her to leave the house late in the evening when feeling sick. Cold medicine normally put Abshire to sleep, and Swartz said she also left without a coat, which was unusual.

She also finds it odd that Abshire didn't wait in the car.
"For some reason she got out of the car. Her trunk was open. And apparently she walked down this deserted road in the middle of the night after she had called for help. It just doesn't add up," Heidi Swartz said.

"Justine was afraid of the dark and she was very security-conscious. She always drove with her doors locked and never would have gotten out of her car, especially if help was on the way."

Swartz and her husband, Steve, have many questions about that night and are frustrated they can't get answers from Eric Abshire.

"We don't think he's been forthcoming," she said about the former husband. "We have a lot of questions."

Swartz said the last phone conversation she and Steve had with Eric Abshire, about one month ago, they told him about their concerns and he hung up.

Eric Abshire could not be reached for comment.
Sgt. Les Tyler of the Virginia State Police said the accident is still under investigation, but he would not say if police have any suspects.

"Losing a child under any circumstance is, I believe, the hardest thing anyone ever has to do," Heidi Swartz said. "And losing a child and having so many unanswered questions and so many loose ends just makes it more difficult.

"I don't feel like either one of us can really begin to start grieving until we find answers. But we'll find them. I don't care how long it takes or what I have to do."

Liz Mitchell can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or

Police still investigating Abshire's death

Barboursville resident Justine Abshire, 27, was killed Nov. 3 in an apparent hit-and-run near the Orange-Greene county line.
The Emerald Hill Elementary School teacher had phoned a family member about car trouble she was having along Taylorsville Road. A family member found her on the roadway at about 1:40 a.m.

The family is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible. Contact the Virginia State Police at (800) 572-2260. For information on Justine Abshire's case and her life, visit JustineAbshire.com