A young woman disappeared from what her family believed would be one of the safer places for her to work. Ashanti Billie arrived at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach early on September 18, 2017, for her shift at a Blimpie restaurant.
Surveillance footage showed her cream-colored Mini Cooper entering the military installation shortly before 5 a.m., but Ashanti never made it to work. She also missed her classes at the Art Institute of Virginia Beach, where she was studying culinary arts.
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Her cellphone surfaced later that morning in a Norfolk construction dumpster. Five days later, investigators found her Mini Cooper abandoned in the city’s Ocean View neighborhood with some of her clothing inside. The search ended on September 29, when Ashanti’s body was recovered behind East Stonewall AME Zion Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, hundreds of miles from Virginia Beach. An autopsy listed her cause of death as undetermined trauma.
The investigation soon focused on Eric Brian Brown, a retired Navy petty officer who had spent 21 years in the service and had access to the base. Brown had helped with construction at the Blimpie before Ashanti began working there, and continued to frequent the restaurant afterward. Her coworkers told investigators that he visited almost daily, attempted to flirt with Ashanti, and on one occasion made a crude sexual remark toward her.
Brown’s connection to the case would eventually extend far beyond his presence at Ashanti’s workplace. Investigators said DNA consistent with his profile was recovered from two pieces of clothing found on Ashanti’s body, while the location where she was recovered sat approximately 300 yards from Brown’s childhood home. He had also attended Vacation Bible School at the nearby church as a child.
Investigators Built Their Case Against Eric Brown
Surveillance footage helped investigators reconstruct what happened after Ashanti arrived at the naval base. Her Mini Cooper was recorded entering shortly before 5 a.m. on September 18, then leaving about 30 minutes later with someone in different clothing behind the wheel. Her cellphone was later recovered from a construction dumpster in Norfolk, while the car itself was found days later with some of her belongings still inside. The Justice Department said Brown’s phone activity also raised concern. His devices showed no use on the day Ashanti disappeared, but searches resumed the next day for phrases including “police looking for man” and “amber alert sept 2017.”
Physical evidence tied him more directly to Ashanti. Investigators recovered male DNA from clothing found on her body, and the profiles were consistent with Brown’s. He also had a personal connection to the area where Ashanti was found. Her body was recovered near a church Brown attended as a child and roughly 300 yards from his childhood home. When questioned, Brown acknowledged being on the base the night before Ashanti disappeared but claimed he later blacked out and could not remember his movements over the following days. Federal prosecutors also cited witness statements alleging that Brown had expressed hostility toward Black women.
Brown was first charged federally with kidnapping in 2017 and later indicted on kidnapping resulting in death, along with assault and stalking counts. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police also charged him with murder. The case, however, would soon stall for a different reason as questions about Brown’s competency prevented it from reaching trial.
In 2020, a federal judge found that Brown remained mentally incompetent and could not be restored to competency through medication. The indictment was not dismissed, meaning prosecutors could still move forward if he is ever found competent to stand trial.
Ashanti’s case also led to the creation of the Ashanti Alert Act, which established a national framework for alerting the public when adults aged 18 to 64 disappear under dangerous or suspicious circumstances. The law was signed on December 31, 2018.
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