Name: Virginia Lynne “Ginni” Wood
Age: 19 years old
Missing since: March 10, 2007
Location: Chocowinity, North Carolina
Status: Still Missing
Disappeared: Season 5 Episode 1 “The Road Not Taken”
Case Information
19-year-old Virginia Wood has been missing from Chocowinity, North Carolina since March 10, 2007.
She disappeared while on a spring break road trip to Texas and Mexico with her friend Kelly Gaskins.
Background
Virginia Wood was born on November 11, 1987.
She was a college freshman at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and planned to study accounting. She would make the six hours drive home to Chocowinity, North California to visit her friends and family whenever she could.
Described as shy and quiet, Wood was a Dean’s List student. Wood’s closest friend since high school was Kelly Gaskins who was also from Chocowinity.
Disappearance
Soon after her semester was over, Wood told her mother she was going to visit her friend Kelly Gaskins in Brownsville, Texas for spring break in March of 2007.
On March 8, 2007, Wood packed her bags and started a 1400 mile drive south from Boone, North Carolina to Texas. She took her social security card and a copy of her birth certificate along so she could cross the border to Mexico with her friend.
Wood spoke with her mother twice in the following days, telling her she had reunited with Kelly Gaskins in Brownsville, Texas, but calls to Wood soon started to going straight to voicemail.
On March 10, 2007, she called a friend from Texas, stating that she was going to cross the border to Cancun, Mexico with Kelly Gaskins. Wood never returned home, and has not been heard from since.
On March 19, 2007, Wood’s mother called the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office to file a missing persons report when she didn’t show up for classes.
Investigation
Wood’s vehicle, a black 2003 Nissan Sentra with the North Carolina license plate number TTZ-6801, has never been found
Kelly Gaskins and Ervin Williams
19-year-old Kelly Gaskins was a childhood friend of Wood’s from Chocowinity, North Carolina. On December 26, 2006, Gaskins and her boyfriend, Ervin Braxton Williams, left their hometown for the border town of Brownsville, Texas.
On January 15, 2007, Gaskins called her mother saying she was in Matamoros, Mexico with her boyfriend. They reportedly found a job working in an hotel and she complained that she did not like living there.
Gaskins is wanted by the North Carolina Department of Corrections for a probation violation. She left the state while she was on misdemeanor probation for drug possession in North Carolina.
Williams is also wanted by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office for failing to appear on charges of first degree arson, first degree burglary, possession of cocaine, assault by pointing a gun and possession of marijuana.
Whereabouts
Police found no evidence, means or motive for foul play in Virginia Wood’s disappearance. They believe Wood may have information on the location of Williams and Gaskins.
A $1000 reward is being offered by Crime Stoppers for information that confirms the whereabouts of Virginia Wood or Kelly Gaskins, or leads to the arrest of Ervin Williams. An additional $1,000 reward is being offered by the Wood family for information that leads to the confirmed whereabouts of Virginia Wood.
The circumstances of Virginia Wood’s disappearance remain unclear and her case is currently classified as a missing case. Her case remains unsolved.
Appearance
Caucasian female with brown hair dyed red and hazel eyes. She is 5′ 6” tall and weighs 175 pounds.
Wood has a small reddish birthmark below her right eye and a two-inch scar on the inside of her left thigh. Her eyebrow is pierced and she wears eyeglasses.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Virginia Wood please contact the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation (252) 756-4755 or the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office at (252) 946-0101 or Beaufort County Crime Stoppers at (252) 974-6400.
Resources & Further Information
Have you seen this child? Virginia Wood – National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Virginia L Wood #MP2465 – NamUs
News & Media Links
Beaufort County Missing People Case Profiled On National TV – WITN 01/12
ASU student missing after seven months – The Watauga Democrat 10/07
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