Bethany Lynn Stephens, 22, a Virginia woman, was mauled to death by her pair of pit bulls while taking them out for a walk in the woods. In a ‘grisly’ scene, Stephens was found dead two days after she was last seen heading out to walk her dogs in the woods near her Goochland, Virginia home.
Bethany Lynn Stephens, 22, was found mauled to death two days after having taken her dogs out for a walk. Her two pit bulls were found aggressively guarding her body in the woods
She was found by her father, John, who was searching where she was known to take the dogs out for walks.
Goochland County Sheriff James L. Agnew said the dogs, ‘very large, brindle-colored pit bull dogs’ were aggressively guarding her body when Stephens’ father came across them.
Her father John found her body two days after she went missing
The dogs had been bred for fighting. Her wounds, which also included puncture wounds in her skull, were consistent with having been mauled.
The medical examiner’s report indicated that Stephens, who stood 5-foot-1 and weighed 125 pounds, had defensive wounds on her hands and arms.
‘The first traumatic injury to her was to her throat and face,’ Agnew said, adding, ‘It appears she was taken to the ground, lost consciousness, and the dogs then mauled her to death.’‘
Agnew said that in his ‘nearly 40 years in law enforcement, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.’
Stephens’ father called 911 after discovering his daughter’s body and the dogs guarding it.
Stephens was 5-feet-1 and 125 pounds, weighing roughly the same amount as her dogs. The brindle-colored pit bulls were said to have been bred for fighting
Stephens’ friend doesn’t think the dogs would have attacked her, noting they slept in the bed with her at night. The friend said it looked like the dogs had escaped their kennels to help her
It took officers more than an hour to remove the dogs from the scene. They were tranquilized and are now in animal control’s custody. Authorities are likely to euthanize the pit bulls
It took the sheriff’s deputies more than an hour to wrangle the 100-pound-plus dogs. They were eventually tranquilized and removed by animal control, who are now in possession of the dogs. Agnew is likely to request that they are euthanized.
Sheriff’s deputies collected more than 60 pieces of evidence from the scene. Stephens was covered with blood and shredded pieces of her clothing.
Barbara Norris, Stephens’ friend, said that she didn’t believe the dogs would kill Stephens and that they slept in her bed at night.
‘Those dogs would not attack her,’ she said. ‘They’d kill you with kisses.’
Norris said that the dogs’ kennels appeared to have been broken open as if the dogs had escaped helping Stephens. Stephens’ death was not a homicide and there were no strangulation marks on her body Agnew noted. The investigation is said to be ongoing.
Authorities are continuing to investigate Stephens’ death. Stephens (pictured with Great Dane, Drogo) showed no signs of homicide or strangulation, police said
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