Just after midnight on July 10, 1988, James Allen Sutton, a 27-year-old white man, was found lying in a grassy area in the 5500 block of Gower Place in Virginia Beach with a gunshot wound. He was airlifted to Norfolk General Hospital but died there; the State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide after autopsy. Sutton was described as 6 feet 0 inches tall, 160 pounds, with hazel eyes and black, shoulder-length hair.

Witnesses reported seeing Sutton in the company of an unidentified man near where his body was found; that unknown individual remains a central figure in the investigation. The Virginia Beach Police Department lists the case as unsolved and is asking the public for information. No arrests have been announced and no suspects have been publicly identified.

If anyone remembers seeing James Sutton or the man last seen with him near Gower Place around midnight on July 10, 1988, please contact the Virginia Beach Police Department.