On the night of Dec. 18, 2005, a Sunday, around 6:30 p.m., Warner was alone in her home along U.S. 29 in southern Culpeper County. She was on the phone with her father, John Embrey, discussing the Washington Redskins’ recent win against the Dallas Cowboys when the call was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was a man on her doorstep claiming his car had broken down and asking to use Warner’s phone so he could call for help.
His conversation suggested he was not alone, according to Jenkins. Warner hung up the phone and was never heard from again. Alerted by her family, first responders showed up at her Reva home just before 8 p.m. to find it on fire, her lifeless body bound and hanging in the basement. Warner was shot in the head.
