4 replies to this topic

[Lori Davis]

http://www.loudounti...sburg_woman898/

Deputies searching for missing Leesburg woman
Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012 by Crystal Owens



The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a missing Leesburg woman who was last seen Aug. 13.

Leyla Mastova McCullagh, 36, was last seen with a family member at her home on Evergreen Mills Road, according to reports.

At the time she appeared to be suffering from an unknown medical condition.

Detectives with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office are concerned for her well-being and are asking anyone with information regarding her whereabouts to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office immediately by calling 703-777-0475.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.nbcwashin...-172325011.html

Police Search Home of Missing Woman's Husband
Leyla McCullagh, 36, previously charged with domestic assault against her husband

Tuesday, Oct 2, 2012  |  Updated 10:11 PM EDT

Police searched the apartment of the husband of a missing Leesburg woman Tuesday.

Leyla Mastova McCullagh, 36, was last seen Aug. 13. Shortly after that, she failed to follow up with the Loudoun County court system, as she was ordered to do so after pleading no contest to a charge of domestic assault against her husband, Matthew McCullagh.

The charge stemmed from an April 10 incident at the couple’s home on Evergreen Mills Road in Leesburg, where Leyla McCullagh allegedly kicked in a bedroom door, kicked in a TV screen, and threw it at her husband before attacking him.

Matthew McCullagh called police around 4 a.m. When they arrived, they noticed cuts on his hands and forearms. Leyla McCullagh told officers she was trying to confront her husband about an alleged affair.

Leyla McCullagh, who had listed her occupation as belly dancer on at least one document, pleaded guilty to domestic assault and was placed on probation. She was ordered to attend counseling after the incident but then went missing.

She was last seen with a family member at her home on Evergreen Mills Road in Leesburg. At the time she appeared to be suffering from an unknown medical condition, said the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is investigating the possibility of foul play in Leyla McCullagh's disappearance, according to court documents. She had complained that her husband was assaulting her and threatened to get her deported, News4's Pat Collins reported. She had told neighbors she was from Russia.

Matthew McCullagh has since moved to a Herndon apartment, which police searched recently, seizing a number of guns and a substantial amount of ammunition, Collins reported.

[Lori Davis]

https://www.findthem...ases/show/18042

NamUs profile for Leyla McCullagh - Case 18042

[Lori Davis]

http://washingtonexa...article/2528912

Husband in missing belly-dancer case accused of hiding machine gun in girlfriend's car
BY SCOTT MCCABE | MAY 5, 2013 AT 6:50 PM

The husband of a 36-year-old Leesburg woman who disappeared under suspicious circumstances has been arrested on federal gun charges after investigators said he tried to hide a submachine gun shortly after she vanished.

Leyla McCullagh and Matthew Ryan McCullagh, 33, had a contentious relationship. She was arrested on domestic assault charges for an April 2012 incident in which police said she kicked in their bedroom door and threw a TV at her husband before attacking him. She accused her husband of having an affair.

She was placed on probation but failed to show up for court, and was reported to have been last seen on Aug. 14. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said then that it suspected "foul play."

There are new developments.

According to federal court papers made public last week, McCullagh hid a .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun from authorities as they were investigating "the disappearance and suspected homicide of Leyla McCullagh."

FBI officials have recovered the weapon, and last week McCullagh was charged with unlawful possession of a machine gun. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. He was ordered held pending pretrial hearing.

He has not been implicated in his wife's disappearance.

According to charging documents, on the night detectives were executing a search warrant at his girlfriend's home in Herndon, McCullagh hid the weapon in the trunk of his girlfriend's car.

McCullagh told his girlfriend that he needed to stash the weapon because it was not registered or was not in good standing, documents said.

McCullagh then asked a co-worker at a business in Ashburn to hold onto the submachine gun, documents said. He told the co-worker that Loudoun County detectives had seized several of his firearms and he did not want to lose all his guns.

The friend agreed to take the submachine gun, but grew concerned that McCullagh was the subject of a criminal investigation. He called another friend who knew someone at the sheriff's office.

On Sept. 3, the detective in charge of the disappearance took custody of the submachine gun. The weapon was entered into evidence and was later sent to the FBI lab for examination. The weapon was fully functional.

According to search warrants, Leyla, a belly dancer and mother of one, had bruises on her arms and told co-workers that her husband threatened to have her deported. She told friends she was from Russia.

Detectives with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office are concerned for her well-being and are asking anyone with information regarding her whereabouts to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office immediately by calling 703-777-0475.

[Lori Davis]

http://www.leesburgt...1a4bcf887a.html

Sheriff's Office Renews Call For Info On Missing Woman
Posted: Friday, August 30, 2013 2:30 pm

For the third time, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office has put out a call for the public's help in locating a missing Loudoun woman--this time just after the one-year mark of her disappearance.

Leyla McCullagh, the mother of a 4-year-old child, was last seen Aug. 14, 2012 by her estranged husband, Matthew McCullagh, at her residence located in the 21000 block of Evergreen Mills Road near Leesburg. Friends and co-workers contacted police several times during the following two weeks to report that they had no contact with her. Loudoun Detectives then filed a missing person report and initiated an investigation.

The investigation is ongoing, and the sheriff's office is requesting anyone with information about McCullagh to call 703-777-0475.

While the case is officially listed as a missing person, search warrants reviewed by Leesburg Today last November revealed more details about the case. The sheriff's office has not commented on the search warrants or specific details of the case because it is an ongoing investigation.

According to affidavits attached to the search warrants, no one has been able to reach McCullagh's car was in the driveway of her Leesburg area home after she was last seen. However, that day, Aug. 14, her cell phone pinged off a tower several hours south of her home. She was reported missing Aug. 30, but there has been no activity on her cell phone, debit card or credit cards since Aug. 14, according to the affidavits. Her iPhone has never been found.

In addition, McCullagh missed a doctor’s appointment Aug. 13 and a court appointment Aug. 23, stemming from an April arrest for domestic assault at her home. Statements in the affidavits indicate a history of domestic violence.

According to a search warrant from early September 2012, an earlier search warrant of the Leesburg area home “yielded an ‘area of interest’ in the master bedroom” through the use of cadaver dogs. And then in early October 2012, a search warrant indicated blood had been found on the front door of the home when investigators attempted to place an executed copy of an earlier search warrant on the door. The affidavit states earlier photos of the scene showed the blood had been there throughout the investigation.

The final search warrant sought the ability to return to the home and also to search the pond on the McCullagh property.