Crews Look For Body Under Road

Workers have been demolishing a section of road in Ashe County looking for the body of man believed to have been killed more than two years ago.

Freddie Hammer has already pleaded guilty to three murders at a Christmas tree farm in Grayson County, Va. that occurred during a robbery in January 2008. Investigators are now attempting to link him to the disappearance of his nephew, Jim Blevins.

Ashe County Sheriff’s detectives said Blevins was last seen with Hammer, and that Hammer owed Blevins money.

Smithey Road at that time was made of sand and gravel, and was about to be paved by the state. Workers have now torn up more than 100 feet of the pavement looking for Blevins.

There is no word yet on how long investigators plan to continue the search, or how much of the road they plan to excavate.

Hammer is currently serving several life sentences for the murders at the Christmas tree farm.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Ashe County Sheriff’s office.