On the morning of July 9, 2012, firefighters in Upperville, Virginia, found black smoke coming from a small cottage and discovered the body of 48-year-old Sarah Libbey Greenhalgh, a reporter for The Winchester Star. What first looked like a death in a house fire was later determined to be a homicide: Sarah had been shot before the fire was set.

Hours before her death Sarah posted on Facebook about sleeping with her windows open and asked to be left alone by a ‘‘batshit crazy boy,’’ a message investigators with the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office treated as a key lead. Police say Sarah and John Sheldon Kearns, described in reports as her boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, were seen arguing the evening before she died. Neighbors reported hearing a heated exchange; Kearns had ‘‘significant injuries’’ on his fists and deleted emails with Sarah. He was identified as a person of interest and later named a suspect, but no charges have been filed and no arrest has been reported.

The case remains unsolved. If anyone knew Sarah, her movements that night, or has information about the dispute between her and John Kearns, please come forward.