The Murder of Sylena Jo Dalton and the Disappearance of Allyson Dalton

Sylena Jo Dalton was 20 years old and lived with her infant daughter Allyson in a second-floor apartment on the 100 block of Charles Street in Strasburg, Virginia. She was a young mother navigating life largely on her own. At the time of her death she had been pursuing child support from Daniel Pompell, Allyson's father, who was not living with them. Pompell had been ordered to take a paternity test. She was employed; it was a coworker who found her body that afternoon when she did not appear for work.

Sylena was stabbed five times in the chest and found on the couch of her apartment. The murder weapon was removed from the scene. Investigators determined her murder occurred between 9:15 and 10:30 a.m. on July 27, 1998. Her infant daughter Allyson was gone. Sylena Jo Dalton was 20 years old. She deserved better than what she got. She deserved to raise her daughter.

Her family waited 27 years for an arrest. It came in September 2025. A trial date had not been set as of the date of publication. Sylena's daughter has still not been found.

Allyson Kathleen Dalton was ten weeks old on July 27, 1998. She had brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen at approximately 7:45 a.m. that morning with her mother Sylena at their apartment on Charles Street in Strasburg. When Sylena's body was found that afternoon, Allyson was gone. Several of her baby bottles were also missing. She has never been found.

Investigators have consistently believed Allyson was abducted by the person who killed her mother. One neighbor reported seeing a man putting a baby into a truck in the area that morning. A witness heard a disturbance in the apartment and then saw Daniel Pompell leaving the building with what he later claimed was a jacket bundled under his arm. Virginia State Police have stated that they do not know whether Allyson is dead or alive. No charges have been filed in connection with her disappearance.

Age progression photographs have been released twice: the first when Allyson would have been 13 years old, and a second in 2017 when she would have been approximately 19 or 20. In February 2026, Virginia State Police conducted a grid search in Fauquier County, approximately 44 miles from Strasburg, in connection with the ongoing investigation. Details of what prompted the search were not publicly disclosed.

If Allyson is alive today, she is 27 years old. She may not know her true identity. She may have been raised under a different name. If you believe you may be Allyson Dalton, or if you have any information about where she may be, Virginia State Police are asking you to come forward.