BOTH WOMEN WANTED ON TEN BENCH WARRANTS BETWEEN THEM
BOTH WERE WITH MALE SUSPECT WHO FLED; MINGO COUNTY SUSPECT FOUND TO HAVE FENTANYL & METH ON HER AFTER TAKEN INTO JAIL
MAY 1, 2026 – written by WADE QUEEN
A PAIR OF FEMALE SQUATTERS/VAGABONDS: VANGIE T. THACKER, 52, OF BELFRY, KY., & DONIQUE A. MITCHEM, 41, OF WILLIAMSON, W.VA., WERE ARRESTED SEPARATELY BY STATE POLICE AFTER THEY WERE FOUND SQUATTING AT A HOME, ALONG WITH AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN WHO RAN FROM THE SCENE.
According to the arrest reports, Kentucky State Police Post 9 in Pikeville, were called to Cow Branch Road at Belfry, KY., early Wednesday evening, April 29, over a report of people staying in a vacant home without permission.
There, they encountered Vangie T. Thacker, 52, of Belfry, KY., on the front porch and could hear a man and woman arguing inside. When they went inside to investigate, the man and woman ran away and couldn’t be located.
Vangie Thacker told police she had been staying in the home a few days because she had nowhere else to go and that she had been told it was owned by someone in her family. Vangie Thacker was arrested by KSP Post 9 trooper Zachary Burgess on a charge of: *BURGLARY, 3RD DEGREE. Vangie Thacker was found to have six (6) outstanding court bench warrants on her, one in Floyd County, KY., for *FAILURE TO APPEAR; and five warrants in Pike County, two for: *FAILURE TO APPEAR; and the other three warrants for: *NON-PAYMENYT OF FINES.
KSP troopers went back to the house early Thursday morning, April 30, to see if the two people who had fled had returned and found Donique A. Mitchem, 41, of Williamson, West Virginia; hiding in a closet, and was arrested by KSP Post 9 trooper Brennan Eckart.
Donique Mitchem told police she and her boyfriend had fled earlier because they thought someone was coming to kill them; and she also said Vangie Thacker had said the home was hers, and she was letting them stay there. Donique Mitchem was also arrested for:
*BURGLARY, 3RD DEGREE, as well as
*FLEEING OR EVADING POLICE, 3RD DEGREE. Donique Mitchem also was found to be wanted on four outstanding court bench warrants in Pike County, all for *FAILURE TO APPEAR.
During a search at the jail, Donique Mitchem was found with two bags containing an ounce of fentanyl each and another bag containing half an ounce of meth. Donique Mitchem was additionally charged with:
*TRAFFCKING IN CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, 1ST OFFENSE FENTANYL;
*TRAFFICKING IN CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, 1ST DEGREE, 1ST OFFENSE (>= 2 GRAMS METHAMPHETAMINE);
*PROMOTING CONTRABAND – FENTANYL, CARFENTANIL, OR DERIVATIVE;
*PROMOTING CONTRABAND – 1ST DEGREE.
Both Vangie Thacker and Donique Mitchem remained lodged in the Pike County Detention Center in Pikeville, where both women are being held on large ‘five-figure’ bond amounts.
