CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A statement made on the record in Kanawha County Circuit Court could help investigators solve a 7-year-old cold case.
Thirty-eight year old Cindy Creathers pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery with the threat of deadly force. As part of that deal, she’ll testify against her co-defendant 44-year-old Joey Jeffrey when he goes on trial in October. The two were allegedly involved in the brutal beating of a Kanawha County woman in 2012.
Creathers said she didn’t want to participate in terrorizing Leanne Quinn but did so when Jeffrey allegedly said, “Do you remember Melanie Metheny? I’m going to put you in the same hole I put her in.”
Metheny dropped her kids off at daycare in Charleston in July 2006 and then disappeared. She hasn’t been seen since. Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants said Creathers statement could be a crucial lead in a cold case.
“The sheriff’s department is going to look up and follow this lead to the end and see if they can find any evidence,” according to the prosecutor.
Plants said Tuesday was not the first time Creathers made the statement involving Metheny but it was the first time it was made public.
“This is an example of the prosecutors trying to get some statements on the record so that it could possibly be used in the future,” explained Plants.
He said that statement could be the key to solving the Metheny case. On the other hand, it might lead to a dead end.
“It could be a statement of someone bragging and be absolutely meaningless but it’s an avenue that the sheriff’s department is going down and investigating,” stressed Plants.
Investigators with the sheriff’s department have already questioned Jeffrey and he is considered a person of interest. He is already incarcerated awaiting his trial next month.
Meanwhile, Creathers was recently moved out of the South Central Regional Jail to another corrections facility for her safety.