BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PIKEVILLE — A former Inez woman reported missing Sunday was found deceased in her vehicle submerged in the Levisa Fork River in Pikeville.
Family members reported that Vanessa Muncy Crum, 52, left her home on New Route 3 near the Big Sandy Regional Airport around 5-6 a.m. driving to the Pikeville Medical Center where she was employed as a surgical nurse. Concern arose when she failed to report to her job, prompting her family to contact the Kentucky State Police Post 9.
Her son, Josh Laredo, noted that Crum’s cellphone pinged a tower in Pikeville at 6:48 a.m. Sunday. The family provided police with access to Crum’s NissanConnect, enabling them to obtain a potential location in Pikeville near the Walmart intersection on U.S. 23.
A Pikeville Police Department officer located Crum’s vehicle late Sunday night.
The KSP reported the initial investigation suggests that Crum, driving a 2023 Nissan Rogue on U.S. 23, exited the roadway, went over an embankment, and became submerged in the river.
Pike County Coroner’s Office pronounced Crum dead at the scene Sunday night.
Detective Mahala Lewis of KSP Post 9 is leading the investigation. He was assisted on-scene by personnel from KSP 9, the Pikeville Police Department, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Pike County Emergency Management.
Crum is the daughter of longtime Inez resident Ruby Muncy Blankenship.
Her funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday at the Callaham Funeral Home in Inez, with visiting hours Wednesday from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.
Amy Johnson, a friend of Crum, commemorated her in a Facebook post: “There are few people I’ve ever known that I feel so strongly about. Vanessa inspired me always to be better, to consider more and to be the very best I could be. She was the consummate professional herself, an adoring mother, a loyal and trusted friend and a very blunt human that so many of us need in our lives.
“She was an Air Force airman, the most incredible first assist that was not afraid to speak up for the good of her patients and a very generous, loving person to all of her colleagues. I am in so much pain for the loss of her and will honor her always and continue to struggle hard to be close to the woman she was.
“May her son Josh take solace and find love in our words describing her life and who she was as a beautiful human being. RIP. To the best woman I know.”