By Tom Joyce tjoyce@mtairynews.com
A fire at a residence just outside Mount Airy claimed the life of a 35-year-old woman after efforts to rescue her failed.
The blaze was reported shortly before 5:45 a.m. Wednesday at 2362 Westfield Road (N.C. 89-East), just beyond Reeves Mill Road east of the city.
Myra Parsons, who is said to have lived at the home with her parents, Ronald and Lisa Parsons, was identified as the victim of the fire, for which the cause had not been determined Thursday morning.
“The fire started in a bedroom she was in,” Surry County Emergency Services Director John Shelton said, and the woman was unable to escape.
• A $500 handgun has been reported stolen in Mount Airy, according to city police reports.
The crime was discovered Sunday at the home of Michael Gerald Kightlinger on South Gilmer Street, where the Glock 9mm weapon with night sights was removed from his unsecured Ford pickup along with other property of Kightlinger’s including a Streamlight tactical pistol light and 15 rounds of 9mm hollow-point ammunition. The items taken were valued at $635 altogether.
• Jennifer Nichole Sawyers, 42, of 1208 Newsome St., was served with a criminal summons for a larceny charge Sunday after officers encountered her during a civil disturbance call at a residence on Northwood Drive. The summons had been issued through the Surry County Sheriff’s Office on March 12 with Robert Shane Webb of Northwood Drive as the complainant.