On July 3, 2021, 53-year-old Dean Herbert Reid and 75-year-old Brenda Iline Barnes were found dead from gunshot wounds in a home on Deep Creek Road in Onancock, Virginia. Reid was a white male active in the Eastern Shore community and was described as a devoted father and grandfather.

Reid’s work and volunteer record was long. He had been a drafter, a corrections officer, a school bus driver, and a public safety dispatcher. He was a lifetime member of the Melfa Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co. Inc., where he served as vice-president, sat on the board of directors, and was company chaplain. Musically, he was a self-taught drummer who played at Faith Assembly of God in Leemont.

The Accomack County Sheriff’s Office arrested an Exmore man and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in connection with the killings. A Celebration of Life for Reid was held July 17, 2021, at Exmore Baptist Church with a reception at the Melfa Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co. Does anyone have information about Dean Reid or recollections of him in the community?