Death of community newspaper reporter found dead in Va. home after fire being probed as homicide

The death of a community newspaper reporter in Virginia is being investigating by local authorities and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a homicide, reports Melissa Boughton of the Winchester Star. The paper's Sarah Greenhalgh, right, was found dead in a bedroom after her rented home in Upperville was burned, according to a press release from the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities on the scene called the fire "suspicious," Boughton reports, but Lt. James Hartman would not reveal what evidence led to this conclusion. He also would not say whether Greenhalgh was killed from injuries sustained in the fire. Authorities have preliminary autopsy results, but won't release them because they fear it will jeopardize the case.

Greenhalgh had worked on an investigative story that Hartman told the paper included several "persons of interest," with whom police are speaking. Authorities have seized her cell phone, personal computer, work computer and several work files. But the motive could be personal, not professional.

The FBI and local authorities have searched the home of a Gainesville, Va. man, who has not been identified, in connection to the case, Boughton reports. He was allowed to return to his home after the search. Neighbors of the man told authorities they saw him and Greenhalgh arguing in the parking lot of his apartment complex Sunday night. The last post on Greenhalgh's Facebook mentions that she would be sleeping with the windows open and is believed to have referenced the Gainesville man as "batsh-- crazy boy (expletive deleted)." Greenhalgh had told several co-workers she had met numerous people through online dating sites and talked about the Gainsville man several times. (Read more)