Monday morning, Sheriff Victor Grayson announced that the investigation into the deaths of Maya Thomas and Daniel Green has officially been closed. They were recorded as being a double suicide. New evidence had recently come to light that led the investigators to this conclusion. In particular, a recently-uncovered suicide note from the pair that included both their signatures was found buried in the dirt under the tree where their bodies were recovered.

This has finally concluded a year-and-a-half-long effort to uncover the truth behind the pair’s deaths. The bodies of Ms. Thomas and Mr. Green had been discovered on the morning of June 16, 2021 by a local resident named Fred Gibbons, who was out walking his dog when he came upon them in Blackwood Forest. Although Oliver Price, Emerson Valley’s sheriff at the time, had gone to great lengths to cover up their murder, it appears that the brutality of their deaths was self-inflicted.

The unsolved investigation was a hot-button issue in the 2021 sheriff’s election, and Sheriff Price’s inability to close the case was a major factor in his loss to Sheriff Grayson. While the current sheriff has also faced criticism for the case remaining open well into his first year in office, it seems that its conclusion means we can finally put an end to this harrowing chapter in our town’s history.

-Sarah Donovan, Editor & Local News, Emerson Valley Gazette