Missing Prince George man found dead in Richmond: ‘His crime was he was too kind’

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - A missing 23-year-old Prince George County man has been found dead in Richmond, according to police.

Cameron Cole was declared missing after he was last heard from on April 28. His fiance, and mother to his child, says she later got a text from him saying “I love you” at 4:40 p.m. while working for Doordash. However, according to Doordash, he never made his last scheduled delivery.

Family and friends searched for Cole on Sunday in Richmond, where his phone had last been detected.

Cole was located in a wooded area in the 2100 block of Commerce Road and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have called his death a homicide.

The 23-year-old was a father, a loving friend and a soon-to-be new husband.

A friend, Ty Mason, says he was ready to start a new chapter in his life with his soon-to-be wife and kids. Cole’s 8-week-old son was his only biological son, but Mason said he was planning to adopt his fiance’s children legally.

“She and Cam were going to get married. They were going to move. He was very excited about the baby, and he kept calling it the new chapter in his life,” she said. “He had so many plans, so it’s hard when people make assumptions, and they say, oh, he may have hurt himself, oh, he gave up on his family, or he was a street guy ‘cause he was nothing like any of that. His crime was that he was too kind.”

His best friend from high school said he was the most genuine, kind person he had ever met.

“He’d do something for you, and he’d never ask for something in return,” said Haley Davis, Cole’s best friend.

Davis says she spoke to him on the phone the day he was last seen around 2 p.m.

“Just a normal day. We were actually joking around like he wasn’t stressed or anything,” said Davis. “We were joking around a bunch. He told me he didn’t have to go in to work that day, so he was Door Dashing to make some money for his kid,” Davis said.

Davis’ girlfriend and friend of Cameron Cole, Makayla Tarbox, told NBC12 that Cole was extremely excited to be a new father.

“He loved his son. That was the light of his life, truly. Ever since he had Cam, ever since he found out he was gonna have a son, he’d always bring up his son. It’s what he was looking forward to,” said both Tarbox and Davis.

Tarbox also talked about the light Cole had around him.

“He could make anybody laugh or smile. It didn’t matter what was going on in his life. He was always positive,” she said.

Police say three Richmond suspects connected to homicide were found in the car that belonged to Cole last week.

Richmond police say the three arrests in the Richmond Highway homicide eventually led them to Cole’s body in a wooded area off Commerce Road.

Police say Isabelle Battle, Demond Williams, and Xavier Brown were involved in the homicide of a Chesterfield man who crashed into a cement truck along Richmond Highway.

In that incident, officers were called to the 1100 block of Richmond Highway for the report of a person shot around 6:30 a.m. on May 3.

Inside the SUV, Ckristofer Tyler, 32, was found suffering a gunshot wound. He died at the scene.

Detectives investigating the homicide were notified that the suspects’ vehicle had been stopped following a pursuit initiated by the Hopewell Sheriff’s Department.

Battle and William were quickly detained. Brown fled the scene but was later captured.

Police say the car they were in belonged to Cole.

Battle faces a grand larceny charge. Brown and Williams both face a charge of conspiracy to commit murder in the May 3 shooting.

Additional charges related to Cole’s death are pending, but no one has been placed into custody yet. Cole’s loved ones say a GoFundMe is also being set up for his family.

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