Authorities released disturbing new details Monday in the mauling death of a Virginia woman by her two pit bulls, and alleged the dogs had recently become “more isolated” with “less and less human contact.”
Goochland County, Virginia, Sheriff James Askew released the information at a news conference, saying he wanted to address skeptics who floated other theories about the death of Bethany Lynn Stephens.
The body of Stephens, 22, of Glen Allen, was found Thursday evening in the woods near an old family farm where she frequently walked her dogs, after her father called 911 around 8:20 p.m. to report that she hadn’t returned home. Initial findings from the medical examiner appeared to confirm injuries to the victim “consistent with being mauled by these dogs,” the sheriff said over the weekend.
“There’s been such a high volume of misinformation,” Askew said on Monday. While stating “I have no idea” what caused the attack, he added: “I can tell you that since this happened, I’ve spent a significant amount of time researching attacks by dogs of this sort, and while it is not an everyday occurrence, it’s not rare.”
“It happens with some frequency in this country, and I don’t want to disparage any particular breed, but if you do the research, you will find that many of these are perpetrated by pit bulls,” he said.
In response to reports that Stephens had received unspecified threats, or possibly been a victim of human violence or sexual assault, and that her dogs were protecting her when they were found with her body, the sheriff said: “It does not seem, from what we found on the scene, from the evidence that we observed, from the evidence that we collected, that narrative doesn’t fit.”
He said, however, “we are still following up on those” reports.
The apparent animal attack was so violent, Stephens was left wearing only one of her boots with her clothes ripped off and scattered, as depicted in images from the scene that were shared off-camera with reporters at the news conference, TV station WTVR reports.
Asked if Stephens might have been attacked by a wolf or a bear, the sheriff said, “there was no evidence of any larger animals there.” Preliminary findings from the medical examiner also revealed “the bite wounds on her head did not penetrate her skull. It just left marks,” which the sheriff was told were inconsistent with the bite strength of a larger animal.