SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, Va. — It’s been nearly a year since Cynthia Carver went missing in Southampton County. The man accused of killing the mother of two, James Goodwyn, faced a judge on Tuesday for first-degree murder. The judge certified the first-degree charge.
The last time anyone saw Carver alive was when she dropped her kids off at a babysitter’s house on February 21, 2019 at 9 p.m. Carver’s family told deputies that she was supposed to meet a man that night. Over a dozen of Cynthia’s family members sat in the courtroom while three law enforcement officers and Carver’s mother, Ann Carver, testified.
Ann said that on February 22nd as she drove by Carver’s house in Newsoms, she noticed the back door was wide open. Ann said that when she reached the door she called out for Carver and realized there was a large pool of blood and that’s when she called 911.
One detective testified that they found a knife in front of the sofa and drag marks from the sofa to the back door, along with one of Carver’s acrylic nails. On March 19, Police found Carver's body off a path in the woods on Wyanoke Trail in Suffolk.
Police said Carver’s children helped make a break in the case when they told investigators they heard Cynthia say the name Little James which lead investigators to search Carver’s Facebook page.
An affidavit said Carver called Goodwyn on Facebook messenger about an hour before she vanished.
A Sheriff’s deputy testified said that initially, Goodwyn stated that he never saw Carver the night she went missing and that he was with his cousin. The deputy said when they contacted his alleged cousin, the person said they didn’t know Goodwyn.
Investigators said that’s when Goodwyn changed his statement and said that he saw Cynthia the night she went missing, but that he never left his car.
Court documents showed that Goodwyn’s DNA was found under Carver’s acrylic nail. The prosecutor said in court that the nail, as well as the knife found in Carver’s home, have Goodwyn’s DNA.
Goodwyn is expected back in court on March 26.