The family of an Alleghany County man missing since 2022 is hoping to get a break in what, unfortunately for them, appears to be a homicide case.
Donald Wayne Kelley was last seen on April 1, 2022. A friend who was at his home that day said Kelley had said he was headed to a destination about 20 minutes away.
Kelley did not return from that trip. Family members asked the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a welfare check on him on April 9, and that’s when it emerged that he was missing.
A records check showed that Kelley had made his final financial transaction on March 24, and had last used his phone on March 26.
Investigators quickly determined – according to a timeline provided by Kevin Hall, then the Alleghany County sheriff; he was defeated in his 2023 re-election bid by Kyle Moore, a former Virginia State Police trooper – that foul play may have been involved.
In March 2023, the sheriff’s office announced that the case was being treated as a probable homicide, and said it had a person of interest in the case, a person that investigators believe Kelley was acquainted with.
That’s the last update that I’ve been able to find in the case.
If you have any information on Kelley’s whereabouts, contact the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office at 540-965-1770.
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Chris Graham
