Key facts
- Name: Heather Dialian Hodges
- Born: ~1990
- Age at disappearance: 22
- Last seen: April 9, 2012
- Location: Shady Lane, Rocky Mount, Franklin County, Virginia
- Height / build: 5’2″, ~101 lbs, blonde hair, blue eyes; “Tink” tattooed on her lower back; navel pierced
- Status: Murdered — her boyfriend was convicted of second-degree murder and concealing a dead body in 2023; her body has never been found
- Investigating agency: Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
Easter Monday
On the morning of April 9, 2012 — Easter Monday — Crystal Songer drove her younger sister Heather to the house on Shady Lane in Rocky Mount so Heather could collect her belongings. Heather was planning to leave her boyfriend, Paul Reivens “Scooter” Jordan II, and move to Florida with a former boyfriend. Jordan was there, agitated, screaming and yelling. Crystal left, planning to come back for her later. When she returned, Heather was gone.
Jordan said he had stepped out around 10:30 that night for a Dairy Queen Blizzard and she had vanished; he waited two days to report her missing. Deputy Bryan Webb noticed fresh scratches on Jordan’s face and neck; his explanations kept shifting. Heather had left behind her vehicle, purse, cell phone — and her two-year-old daughter.
Who Heather was
Heather Dialian Hodges was 22, a mother of a two-year-old — 5’2″, barely a hundred pounds, blonde, blue-eyed, with “Tink” inked on her lower back. In the days before she vanished, she told friends and family she was afraid of Jordan; testimony later established he had abused her, including strangling her days before she disappeared. Her mother, Paula Hodges, did not live to see the verdict.
The investigation
Sixty-six days in, the sheriff’s office elevated it from a missing-person case: “We have found forensic evidence that Heather Hodges’ disappearance was preceded by a violent event,” Lt. Todd Maxey said. Sheriff Bill Overton said the person of interest had given “several different accounts” — his stories kept changing.
In May 2012, investigators searched the Shady Lane house after Jordan moved out. The home was clean except one bedroom, in disarray — carpet saturated with blood, a bloodstain on the doorknob. The blood was consistent with Heather’s DNA; a fingerprint in the blood on the doorknob belonged to Jordan. The Dairy Queen story collapsed: surveillance showed no sign of Jordan or his vehicle, and the restaurants were closed during the hours he described.
Helicopters, cadaver dogs, countless interviews — then the case stalled for years, “always an active investigation” but never enough to charge. In 2017, Investigator Holly Willoughby took a fresh look, reinterviewed every witness, and sat down with Jordan himself. Jordan admitted he had lied for years — he had gone out to buy pills that night, not a Blizzard — and that he had “jerked her up and set her down on the couch” during an argument.
Trial, conviction, appeal
On April 14, 2022, a special grand jury indicted Jordan on second-degree murder and concealing a dead body. In May 2023, a judge declared Heather legally dead.
The three-day trial began June 13, 2023, prosecuted by Pittsylvania County’s Robert “Bryan” Haskins. With no body, the case rested on the blood evidence, Jordan’s fingerprint, his shifting stories, abuse testimony, and the cellmate’s account. On June 15, the jury found him guilty on both counts.
Sentencing, August 22, 2023: 35 years active (40 for murder with 30 to serve, plus five for concealing a body). Jordan maintained his innocence: “I loved that woman with all my heart.” Haskins cited roughly 30 prior convictions. Crystal Songer: “We got justice today, but I don’t think it’s closed… You don’t kill somebody that you love.”
On April 15, 2025, the Court of Appeals affirmed (Jordan II v. Commonwealth, No. 1723-23-3). No-body murder convictions are rare — roughly eight to ten in Virginia history.
Theories: what we know now
Homicide by Paul Jordan. Proven at trial, affirmed on appeal — no longer a theory; the legal record.
Voluntary disappearance. Ruled out — she left her daughter, phone, purse, and car behind.
The one open question: where is Heather’s body? Never recovered. The sheriff’s office calls it a “closed arrest” but still seeks tips on her remains. Jordan has never said where he put her; his remark to his cellmate — that she would never come “out of that ditch” — is the only known reference.
Have information?
Anyone with information about the location of Heather Hodges’s remains should contact the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office at 540-263-0845 (anonymous: Crime Line, 540-344-8500). In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- April 9, 2012 — Easter Monday: Crystal Songer drops Heather at the Shady Lane home at 6:30 a.m.; Jordan is agitated. When Crystal returns, Heather is gone — Jordan claims he left for a Dairy Queen Blizzard around 10:30 p.m. He reports her missing on April 11, two days late, with fresh scratches on his face and neck.
- May 2012 — Shady Lane search: blood-saturated carpet matching Heather’s DNA, Jordan’s fingerprint in blood on a doorknob; Dairy Queen footage shows no sign of him.
- June 2012 — Elevated to a criminal investigation: forensic evidence of a “violent event.”
- 2012–2017 — Active but stalled; helicopters, cadaver dogs, countless interviews; no charges.
- 2017–2018 — Jordan arrested on unrelated charges; Investigator Holly Willoughby reopens the file and he admits lying for years. Reclassified as a homicide investigation; in December 2018 he confesses to a cellmate.
- April 14, 2022 — Special grand jury indicts Jordan: second-degree murder, concealing a dead body.
- May 2023 — Declared legally dead on her sister’s petition (Virginia’s seven-year statute).
- June–August 2023 — Guilty verdict after a three-day trial; sentenced to 35 years active; April 2025 — Court of Appeals affirms.
- Today — Her body has still never been found; the sheriff’s office still seeks tips on her remains.
FAQ
Is Heather Hodges still missing?
To her family: yes. Paul Jordan was convicted of her murder in 2023, affirmed in 2025 — but her body has never been recovered, and the only known reference to it is Jordan’s remark to his cellmate that she would never come “out of that ditch.” (A judge declared her legally dead in May 2023 — a civil determination, not a finding of what happened.)
Who was convicted in Heather Hodges’s case?
Paul Reivens “Scooter” Jordan II, Heather’s boyfriend — guilty of second-degree murder and concealing a dead body (June 15, 2023), sentenced to 35 years active. He maintains his innocence.
How can someone be convicted of murder with no body?
Through evidence proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt: Heather’s blood saturating the bedroom carpet, Jordan’s fingerprint in it, his shifting stories, abuse testimony, and his confession to a cellmate. No-body convictions are rare — roughly eight to ten in Virginia history.
How old would Heather Hodges be today?
She was 22 in April 2012 — she would be 36 now.
Sources
- Official: Franklin County Sheriff’s Office; Virginia Court of Appeals, Jordan II v. Commonwealth, No. 1723-23-3.
- News: WSLS (Roanoke) — trial, declared-dead ruling, no-body-convictions explainer; WDBJ7 — verdict and “Unsolved Virginia” (2026); WFXR — sentencing; Oxygen, CBS 17, and Cable 12 — indictment coverage.
- Reference: The Charley Project — Heather Dialian Hodges; CUE Center for Missing Persons — Heather Hodges.
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.