Walter Johnson High School’s former lacrosse coach, Gary Reburn, has been arrested due to a connection with an abnormal attempted kidnapping and murder case. He is one of the four people accused in an attempt to kidnap five kids from their two respective homes and kill their parents in Dayton, Virginia last year.
Reburn was accompanied by his girlfriend, Valerie Hayes, along with another couple, Frank and Jennifer Amnott of Florida. Hayes convinced the Amnotts that her three children had been kidnapped and were being held by two families in Dayton along with two other children. She then promised to give them one of her own kids if they help her because she knew they could not conceive kids.
Reburn, Hayes, and Frank Amnott forced their way into the home holding the father at gunpoint while two young children were sleeping. The mother was able to escape to a nearby cornfield and call 911. No one was hurt however, Hayes and Reburn got away leaving Frank Amnott alone to be arrested by a Rockingham County Sheriff Deputy.
After their plan failed, Reburn, Hayes and Jennifer Amnott fled to the U.K., where they are now awaiting extradition. Frank Amnott pleaded guilty two weeks before Christmas to three charges, including conspiracy to kill witnesses, that could result in an immediate life sentence. Amnott’s sentencing is scheduled for May 26.
Walter Johnson High School principal Jennifer Baker sent a letter home to parents ensuring that the case against former varsity lacrosse coach has nothing to do with his time at the school.
“Although the facts of this case read like the script of a bad horror movie, the defendants’ murderous plot was real and it posed a grave risk to their intended victims,” according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office Western District of Virginia.
Article by Katherine Mahoney of Sherwood High School
Image courtesy of Flickr