Service planned for Fabian
Published 9:41 pm Tuesday, July 23, 2019
A memorial service is set for Saturday for a Suffolk native who died of a homicide in May.
Amy Renee Fabian, who graduated from Lakeland High School in 1993, went missing from her Cumberland County home on May 24. Her remains were located in Mecklenburg County on May 30. Her ex-boyfriend has been charged with her death.
Irby said he has known Fabian since she was in high school. “She was good friends with our oldest child, Jennifer, who was a year ahead of her at Lakeland,” Irby said.
When Fabian’s family moved, Fabian stayed behind to finish her last year of high school at Lakeland and lived with the Irbys. Skip Irby recalled that Fabian played volleyball and field hockey, was in the chess club and served as a class officer.
“We had a great year, and she was a great person,” he said.
Fabian went off to Radford University after Lakeland, Irby recalled. She also loved animals, he said.
Irby had infrequent contact with Fabian after she graduated, but her classmates kept up with her.
“With the advent of social media, we were able to kind of keep up with her,” Irby said. “She kept up with our daughter and some of the other classmates from high school.”
Fabian was discovered missing about 3:30 a.m. May 24, when the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call about a homicide at her residence. A friend of hers, Matthew T. Broyles, 29, of Powhatan, was found dead at her home.
Later that morning, police in South Hill got a 911 call from a woman who was carjacked outside her house. That evening, the suspect, George W. Knisley IV, 41, was suspected of having stolen a third vehicle in North Carolina and was involved in a pursuit with police in Raleigh, where he was taken into custody. Raleigh Police also discovered the vehicle taken from the woman in South Hill in their jurisdiction.
On May 30, law enforcement located Fabian’s remains and a Ford F-350 work truck, previously reported stolen in Maryland, in a wooded area off Route 138 in Mecklenburg County.
“My daughter as well as some of her friends wondered if we would do something in Suffolk,” Irby said of services. “We have no idea how many people may show up.”
Irby said he has spoken with the family and they gave him the go-ahead to do a Suffolk service.
The service on Saturday will take place at 2 p.m. at R.W. Baker & Co. Funeral Home. The Rev. T. Floyd “Skip” Irby will conduct the service. People who knew Fabian are asked to send pictures for a video tribute that will be given to her family, and to send memories that Irby can read. Those items can be sent to rwbakerfh@yahoo.com.