A house fire on John Clayton Memorial Highway in Mathews, Virginia, led investigators to two victims found inside after crews extinguished the blaze. The bodies were identified as 54-year-old Chad Wayne Ashford and 56-year-old Audrey Elaine Hudgins Mowrar. Investigators determined both victims had been shot multiple times the previous day, Thursday, July 10, 2025, and that the fire was set the following night in an effort to conceal the killings and destroy evidence.

Digital evidence, public tips, and license plate reader hits pointed investigators to Newport News, where a traffic stop and subsequent foot chase resulted in the arrests of 33-year-old Carol Paul Cormier Jr. of Mathews County and 18-year-old Lacey Ann Horsley of Gloucester County. Court documents allege Cormier shot both victims; Horsley reportedly said she drove Cormier from the scene and later returned with him to set the house on fire. Investigators recovered .380 cartridges in Gloucester County.

Cormier faces two counts of second-degree murder, firearm enhancements for each murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and burning or destroying a residential structure. Horsley is charged with being an accessory after the fact to both murders and conspiracy to burn or destroy a residential structure. Both are being held without bond. Is anyone in the area familiar with Ashford or Mowrar, or did anyone see suspicious activity near John Clayton Memorial Highway in early July 2025?