Marcia Pummel calls Timberly Claytor a friend.
“We all ran together as kids,” she said. “[We] went to school together.”
After growing apart over the years, the two reconnected a year-and-a-half ago.
“I didn’t even recognize her at first,” Pummel said. “She had to tell me who she was.”
Pummel says Claytor told her she was using drugs. Talking with members of Claytor’s family, Sunday, they confirmed the 38-year-old mother of five was addicted to heroin.
"Nobody will talk about it and it needs talked about,” Pummel said.
Pummel wanted to talk to 10TV News, not just because she knew Claytor, but also because she knows about the struggle of addiction. She says her nephew overdosed and died on heroin, last year.
“I think more people need to talk about it,” she said. “There’s a stigma. Nobody will talk about it.”
Sunday, the Ross County Coroner’s Office confirmed it was Claytor that was found Friday off Trego Creek Road in Massieville. The cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head.
Claytor’s family says the Speedway gas station at the intersection of Bridge Street and Main Street was the last place Timberly was seen alive early Thursday morning. They say law enforcement is now combing through surveillance video, looking for clues.
“She was a good girl,” Pummel said. “She did good in school. Like I said, she come from a good family.”
Pummel says the family needs to stick together.
“I just know all the feelings of each family member and what part it played and what they’re going to go through and what they’re going to deal with and what people’s going to say,” she said. “And, it breaks my heart.”
She says people should remember Claytor for who she was and not for her addiction.
Claytor’s mother wanted to stress the importance to 10TV viewers to please contact the Ross County Sheriff’s Office if they have any information on this case. You can call them at 740-773-1185.