Woman Found Dead had Troubled Past

While Erica Maynor’s family comes to grips with her death a clearer picture of the victim is emerging.

Virginia’s Medical Examiner’s office on Saturday confirmed the body found inside a burning dumpster in Woodbridge’s Bayvue neighborhood March 23 was that of 25-year-old Erica Dawn Maynor.

A mother of two daughters ages 1 and 6, Maynor left her small hometown outside Huntington W.Va. and moved to Alexandria to live with an aunt, said her father, Eric Maynor. The children stayed behind to live with their grandparents.

“She was trying to start over and was trying to do something different with her life,” said Eric Maynor.

But it seems trouble followed Erica.

She recently had a custody dispute with the father of one her children, her father said.

Virginia court records show several pending cases for her, with charges that include drug possession and failing to stop at the scene of an auto accident in Fairfax County on January 4.

In the latter case, her father helped her find a defense lawyer, and she was due in court June 21.

The victim’s family said she was a trusting person. That character trait, they fear, could have lead to her death.

“She never met anyone she wouldn’t talk to,” said her father said. He last spoke to her about a month before she was found dead.

In addition to living in the two Virginias, she also lived in Indiana for a short time where she met Brittany DeVore.

After Maynor left Indiana, the two exchanged letters up until Maynor had her second child.

“She might have been trouble sometimes but I know she had a big heart! She had infectious charm and a great smile. It’s horrible that this happened to her, Ill pray for her girls,” said DeVore.

Police are still looking for clues in Maynor’s death and have asked anyone with information to call Prince William County Crime Solvers at 703-670-3700.