By Bill Grubb

SURGOINSVILLE - Authorities have charged two individuals and are investigating the possible involvement of a third person in connection with a methamphetamine lab located on Gravely Valley Road.
    Ronnie Dale Armstrong, 49, 2019 Main Street, Surgoinsville, has been charged with the manufacture/sale/delivery of schedule II (meth), simple possession of marijuana and felony possession of drug paraphernalia.
    Shanna Nicole Thomas, 31, 179 Cross Valley Road, Surgoinsville, has been charged with the manufacture/sale/delivery of schedule II (meth) and felony possession of drug paraphernalia. 
    On June 18 Officers with the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit, acting on information from an anonymous tip, responded to an abandoned trailer next to 346 Gravely Valley Road.
    Officers reported "a large amount of fumes coming from the location and strong chemical smell."  
    The location was secured and officers found Armstrong and Thomas at the 346 Gravely Valley Road address.
    While talking to the man and woman, officers noticed "a strong odor of chemicals commonly found in the production of meth on their person," according to their arrest reports.
    Armstrong and Thomas reportedly told officers there were in the trailer while a third individual, identified as a male resident at the Gravely Valley Road address, was "smoking" off the lab.
    Sheriff Roger Christian said the third man was not at the scene when officers arrived and an investigation  is ongoing.