'We just want the truth': Connie Hevener's family wants to know why a cop allegedly hid her killer for 40 years

Written By David McNair

'We just want the truth': Connie Hevener's family wants to know why a cop allegedly hid her killer for 40 years

MOUNT SIDNEY– On April 30, 1947, Virgil and LaVerne Smootz became parents to twins: a girl Connie, and a boy Carroll. "From the very beginning," says LaVerne of her inseparable twins, "they were peas in a pod."

"I needed her, too," says Carroll, "she was always the one keeping me out of trouble."

If Carroll missed class, Connie lent him her homework. If Connie joined the high school cheerleading squad, Carroll joined the football team. If one developed a crush, the other would give a thumbs up or thumbs down.

It might have been this way for 62 years. But as the family sits around LaVerne's living room, thumbing through a family photo album, in the Shenandoah Valley town of Mount Sidney, the family consists only of LaVerne (now LaVerne Sowers) and Carroll. Virgil died 28 years ago. Connie died much earlier and much younger, in a crime that continues to plague the Valley.

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Full Stories List for February 26th, 2009 issue #0808

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David McNair
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