Danville school principal found dead in Rockingham County, N.C.

UPDATE:

A candlelight service honoring the life of Sammie Massie will be held 8 p.m. Sunday at the Westmoreland Playground.

Langston Focus School principal Samuel Massie was found dead Thursday on Goose Pond Road off N.C. 700 in Rockingham County.

The cause of death remained undetermined late Thursday.

Sheriff’s officers found Massie, 54, a short distance from his car, according to sheriff’s spokesman Dean Venable.

“Shortly after we started looking, we found the body of the man laying face down in a small body of water,” Venable said.

The search began after a deputy found Massie’s car shortly before 8 a.m., Venable said. The Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office had issued an alert to look for Massie and the car.

The deputy called for assistance, Venable said.

A Danville native, Massie graduated from George Washington High School in 1972. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Averett University and a master’s degree from North Carolina A&T State University. He did post-graduate work at the University of Virginia.

Massie joined Danville Public Schools in 1977 as a language arts and social studies teacher at Woodrow Wilson Middle School, according to Superintendent Sue Davis.

He transferred to Westmoreland Middle School, where he was named assistant principal in 1981 and principal in 1988. He later became principal of the Opportunity School and Fresh Start Academy.

Davis said Massie was on vacation at the time of his death. She said counseling would be offered to school system employees and students who request it.

• Staff writer Miranda Baines with The Reidsville Review in Reidsville, N.C., contributed to this report.

• Contact Bernard Baker at or (434) 791-7986.