Virginia Woman Debbie Marrero Found Dead, Two Charged With Murder

Debbie Ann Marrero had been missing for months when a tip from the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office finally broke the case. Danville Police received that lead on March 9, 2026, and within days investigators had found her body and charged two Danville residents with her murder.

Marrero, 60, was last seen on August 14, 2025, according to local reporting. Her family did not report her missing to the Danville Police Department until November 20, 2025, leaving a gap of roughly three months before an official missing-persons investigation was opened. At the time, a Danville PD statement noted that "Marrero was known to stay with family members in the area of Selma Avenue, but she was unreachable by phone. She may still be in the area at an unknown location."

That changed in early March 2026. Acting on the Rockingham County tip, investigators from Danville PD and the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office jointly searched the southeastern section of Pittsylvania County, a hilly, rural stretch of Virginia. They found Marrero's body on the 1600 block of Mountain Hill Road in the Mountain Hill area. Her remains were transported to the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Roanoke, where an autopsy is pending to determine cause and manner of death.

There is one wrinkle worth flagging for anyone following this case closely: it remains unclear whether the tip originated with the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office in Virginia, which sits roughly 180 miles north of Danville, or Rockingham County in North Carolina, which sits just across the state line. No official clarification has been issued.

Two people were charged with Marrero's murder in connection with the investigation: Deborah Lynn Hurd, 63, of Danville, and David Thomas Gunnell, 61, also of Danville. Some outlets have referred to Gunnell as Thomas Gunnell or David Gunnell, but the most complete name reported across local sources is David Thomas Gunnell. Hurd is currently held in the Pittsylvania County Jail; Gunnell is in the Danville City Jail. Both are being held without bond pending their first court appearance.

Danville Police publicly announced the charges on March 11, 2026, describing the investigation as "active and ongoing." The autopsy results will be a critical next data point — cause and manner of death have not been released, and the full picture of what happened to Marrero between August and her discovery in that rural Pittsylvania County field remains incomplete. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Danville Police Department Investigations Division or the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office.