A Virginia mother of three was allegedly lured to her death by a man she was dating who dangled a job offer that convinced her to upend her life and move more than 100 miles to West Virginia.
Angel Whitaker, 37, left her home in Bristol, Va., in January 2026 for a new job in Bluefield, W.Va., after former work employee Donald Pennington, 59, allegedly offered her an assistant manager position at O’Reilly Auto Parts in Bluefield, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WVNSTV.
Whitaker, who reportedly met Pennington at a Bristol auto shop in 2018 and began a relationship with him soon after, moved in with him after moving to West Virginia.
However, by April her family had lost all contact with her, and on May 4, her sister Angela reported her missing.
Investigators said the relationship had become tense after Whitaker moved in with Pennington, and in the weeks before her disappearance, her sister told police that Whitaker had moved to a hotel in Princeton to distance herself from the situation.
Whitaker was last seen on April 17, 2026, when she reportedly showed up to work drunk. Pennington told police he drove her home, but when he returned from work later that day, she was gone.
More than a week after Whitaker was reported missing, Pennington’s ex-girlfriend met with investigators on May 12 and told them, “You’re not going to find her, he killed her.”
She also told investigators that the two had been arguing constantly in the weeks before Whitaker disappeared.
Investigators said Pennington had previously called his ex-girlfriend and told her that he had left work on April 17 to break up an argument between Whitaker and a family member, and that Whitaker had made threatening claims against him, according to WVNSTV.
He allegedly met his ex-girlfriend at a mall that same day and told her that Whitaker had threatened to kill him — and then he “snapped,” the complaint said.
The ex-girlfriend told investigators that Pennington grabbed Whitaker by her throat and choked her until she stopped breathing, then allegedly showed her a photo of Whitaker’s body taken from the victim’s phone.
Investigators also alleged that Pennington disposed of Whitaker’s phones by soaking them in bleach and destroying their SIM cards.
The ex-girlfriend told investigators that she later met Pennington at a Lowe’s in Bluefield, Virginia, where he purchased several bags of concrete before the two drove to Bastian, Virginia, about 20 miles away, where he allegedly buried Whitaker’s body.
She led investigators to the location where Virginia State Police cadaver dogs were deployed, but was unable to locate Whitaker’s remains. She also handed over her phone to investigators and admitted to deleting messages from Pennington about the alleged murder, according to WVNSTV.
Pennington was arrested May 13 and is being held at the West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority.
He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and concealment of a body.
Whitaker is survived by three children — 18-year-old son Braiden, 17-year-old daughter Daizy and 12-year-old son Christopher — according to a GoFundMe set up by her family to help with funeral costs.
