In the quiet community of Draper, Virginia, the life of 25-year-old Jamie Leigh Frazier, a Caucasian female, was tragically cut short in December of 2022. A talented tattoo artist and a loving mother to her young daughter, Jamie was last seen on December 14, 2022, in the company of her boyfriend, Johnny Raymond Thomas. Their sudden disappearance cast a dark shadow over the small town, leaving family and friends to anxiously await any news of their whereabouts.
The search for the missing
couple came to a grim conclusion a month later, on January 14, 2023, when their bodies were discovered in the New River in Pulaski County. The subsequent investigation by the medical examiner would confirm the community's worst fears: both Jamie and Johnny had been the victims of homicide, their lives ended by gunshot wounds. The discovery sent ripples of shock and grief through the area as a search for answers and justice began.
An extensive investigation by the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office led to the arrests of four individuals in connection with the double murder. Mark David Weiss, a 52-year-old from Draper, was identified as the primary suspect and charged with two counts of second-degree murder. He also faced a litany of other serious charges, including possession of a firearm by a violent convicted felon, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, arson, concealing a dead body, and destruction of evidence. Weiss was subsequently held without bond at the New River Valley Regional Jail.
Three other Draper residents were also implicated in the efforts to cover up the heinous crime. Ashley Nicole Edwards, 36, and Terrance Wayne Edwards, 57, were both charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact, as well as arson and destruction of evidence. An 18-year-old, Nolan Michael Neil, faced similar charges of being an accessory to murder, along with concealing a dead body, arson, and destruction of evidence. The investigation revealed that after the murders, the bodies of Jamie and Johnny were disposed of in the river in an attempt to conceal the crime.
