Authorities in Nelson County are once again turning their focus to Henry County as they investigate the disappearance and presumed homicide of Jeffrey Lee Quick, a Nelson County man missing for nearly 30 years.
Quick, a resident of Tyro, Virginia, was reported missing on May 23, 1998, according to Nelson County Sheriff’s Investigator Chip Woody. The initial investigation produced few leads, and Quick’s remains have never been found.
Sheriff Mark Embrey recently reopened the case after new details emerged in recent months, following a series of re-interviews with individuals connected to Quick, Woody said.
“The details suggest that Quick was the victim of a homicide, which authorities believe occurred on or about May 22, 1998,” Woody said.
In a statement, the sheriff’s office said investigators now have “high confidence” that Quick’s remains are in the Bassett area. Authorities are asking for assistance from anyone — particularly in Henry County — who may know about his disappearance.
Woody said the connection to Henry County comes from “friendships and acquaintances” that linked some individuals in Nelson County to people in the Bassett and Martinsville areas of Henry County.
After discussing the case Tuesday with Embrey, Henry County Sheriff Wayne Davis said his office has no substantive evidence to indicate Quick’s remains are in Henry County.
“There is no area to even begin a search for his remains,” Davis said.
Woody acknowledged the uncertainty, noting that the latest interviews have again pointed authorities toward Henry County, but without definitive evidence.
“The interviews that we have conducted here lately lead us in that direction again,” Woody said. “I do not have a definite reason. All I have is word of mouth. I have no concrete reason why” Quick would have ended up more than two hours away from his home or why he may have been killed.
This is not the first time investigators have searched Henry County for Quick’s remains.
In June 2001, authorities scoured the waters of Philpott Lake beneath Union Bridge, acting on information that Quick’s body may have been placed in a barrel and dropped into the lake. While searching, divers from Henry and Franklin counties recovered a barrel containing the remains of Ether Smith, a 38-year-old Martinsville woman who had been missing since 1989. Smith had suffered two gunshot wounds to the head, authorities said at the time. Her murder remains unsolved, as does Quick’s disappearance.
According to Woody and The Charley Project, a website that compiles missing persons cases, Quick was last seen in the front yard of his home on Campbell Mountain Road near State Route 56.
His wife was leaving to go grocery shopping when she saw a black car turning into their driveway. A friend visiting Quick was inside the house at the time, preparing to play horseshoes. At one point, the friend went outside to retrieve something from his car and saw no one. He reported hearing gunshots but did not find it unusual, as neighbors regularly fired guns. About 15 minutes later, he saw the black car drive away. Quick was never seen again.
A Nelson County grand jury investigating Quick’s disappearance concluded in January 2003 that Frank Farinacci, an acquaintance of Quick, had murdered him at his home and then disposed of his body, Woody said. Farinacci had been a suspect in the case since shortly after Quick vanished.
In February 2002, months before the grand jury reached its conclusion, Farinacci’s wife, Elizabeth Farinacci, shot and killed him in their home. She was later convicted of murder and sentenced to 53 years in prison.
According to The Charley Project, the motive for the killing was to prevent Frank Farinacci from implicating her in Quick’s death. She was denied parole in 2015.
In online interviews, Quick’s parents, Lee and Geraldine Quick, have said they do not believe Frank Farinacci harmed their son.
Although no physical evidence currently ties Quick’s remains to Henry County, Woody said the location continues to surface in interviews.
“There is nothing concrete that takes us in that area, but it keeps coming up,” Woody said. “The potential is there that somebody may have information” about Quick’s death.
Authorities remain hopeful that new information will lead them to Quick’s remains, bringing long-awaited closure to his family.
Anyone with information about Quick’s disappearance is asked to call Woody at (434) 263-7069.
Anyone with information about Smith’s death or disappearance is asked to call the Henry County Sheriff’s Office at (276) 638-8751, or Martinsville-Henry County Crimestoppers at 276-63-CRIME (276-632-7463).
