Sheriff John Henry Woodward said Tuesday that a fire

Sheriff John Henry Woodward said Tuesday that a fire that destroyed two cars Aug. 23 appears to have been set intentionally.

Woodward said that when a sheriffs deputy and the Flint Hill Volunteer Fire Department arrived at the Peter Neilsen residence on Route 630 about 10:50 p.m., they found two vehicles, a 1989 Lincoln and a 1989 Jeep Cherokee, fully involved in flames. Both were destroyed.

Woodward said that due to what he called “suspicious circumstances,” he requested the assistance of an arson investigator from the Virginia State Police. Although his investigation is still underway, the sheriff said, from evidence developed so far ‘it looks like both vehicles were torched.”

Woodward declined to elaborate, citing the continuing investigation. The Lincoln was valued at $8,500, he said, and the Jeep at $4,500.

The death toll on county roads continues to mount, with an accident Aug. 21 that claimed the life of an elderly Culpeper woman. Ruby Farrish, 79, was the sixth highway fatality in Rappahannock County this year.

She was a passenger in a car driven by James Wilkerson, 21, of Culpeper, according to Virginia State Trooper S.M. Knick. Wilkerson was eastbound in the left lane approaching the intersection of Route 730.

Knick reported that a 1988 GMC pickup truck, driven by Randolph Settle, 54, of Amissville, had pulled into the median crossover at Route 730. Settle’s truck apparently nosed out into the eastbound lane, striking Wilkerson’s 1988 Ford pickup in the side.

Wilkerson lost control of the truck, according to Knick’s report, and it ran off the left side of the road into the median strip, where it struck a sign and overturned.

Mrs. Farrish was airlifted to Fairfax Hospital, where she died of her injuries. Wilkerson and another passenger in the truck were also in