BY RACHEL DOVE
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

LOVELY — A call to oversee the removal of personal property from a location on Evans Hill, near Lovely, ended with criminal littering citations issued to the owner of a camper parked on the site.

Martin County Sheriff John Kirk was contacted Sunday afternoon by the owner of the Appalachian Renewal Project that owns over 7,000 acres of former mine land. The owner requested that the sheriff go to a location on Evans Hill that served as the central hub for his reforestation projects where supplies and equipment were stored.

A business decision had been made by the owner to assume responsibility for USDA contracts that in the past, had been under the direction of a contractor and had made arrangements with an individual to relocate what belonged to him and his organization. When the man arrived to load the items, he was met with opposition from the contractor who was residing with his wife in a camper on the property. To prevent a confrontation and to oversee the safe removal of equipment, the sheriff agreed to go to the location.

Kirk stated that upon his arrival, Julie Vanhoose, 55, of Pique, Ohio, was the only person at the site. She told the sheriff her husband had left to conduct business.

Vanhoose allegedly became agitated and ordered the sheriff to get off her property, claiming she and her husband owned 20 acres of the former mine property, including the land where the equipment and supplies were stored. Kirk requested proof of ownership, which the owner produced for the land in question, a tractor, chemicals and multiple other items.

“While I was there, Mrs. Vanhoose became very belligerent and began cursing and yelling and threatening to sue me,” said the sheriff. “I warned her that if there was one more outburst, I would arrest her for disorderly conduct. She proceeded to call 911 to request that a state trooper also respond, which he did. The trooper gave her the very same information I had already provided, that being the items did not belong to her husband and she could not produce paperwork that proved otherwise, so the owner had the right to remove and transport them anywhere he wished.”

Kirk said while on scene, he observed a burn pile in front of the camper where household garbage and plastic had been burned, and also discovered raw sewage running from the camper directly into a branch which flowed on down the hollow.

Vanhoose was assigned a court date of Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. to appear in Martin County District Court to face the Class A misdemeanor charge.