The Enduring Mystery of Patrice Endres: Who Killed This Mother, Wife, and Professional Beautician?

In writing this blog post, I realize that it has been 22 years since Patrice Endres was taken from her shop on Matt Highway in Forsyth County, near the Dawson and Cherokee County lines. This highway runs through the small community of Matt—one that most visitors or residents at the time would not have considered the setting for a horrific kidnapping and murder. But on April 15, 2004, that perception was shattered when this beautiful 38-year-old mother to her son, Pistol Black, and friend to many, went missing from her salon.

The morning of April 15, 2004, began fairly ordinarily for Patrice and her son. According to the episode of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix featuring this case, Patrice woke him for school in her usual way—by starting the treadmill and walking on it. The rhythmic thuds of her footsteps did the trick, and he got up to get ready. While Pistol recalled that they were slightly argumentative that morning, it was nothing more than a teenager rushing to school to see his new girlfriend before the bell. Patrice dropped him off at North Forsyth High School, told him she loved him, and said she would see him after school. That would be the last time he saw her.

Later that day, a school resource officer pulled Pistol from class and asked if he had heard from his mother. Confused, he attempted to call her, but received no answer (Goldblum, 2020).

Investigators later found Patrice’s appointment book at the salon. Her first client, Pam Sheppard, had an 8:50 a.m. appointment. Pam reported that Patrice seemed distracted and unusually inattentive. She left around 11:05 a.m., and Paul Cantor arrived less than five minutes later. He departed around 11:27 a.m., confirmed by phone records indicating he received a call as he left. This left Patrice alone for a short time.

At approximately 11:35 a.m., another client called to reschedule. That customer noted that Patrice seemed somewhat short on the phone—again, unusual behavior for her. The call lasted about two minutes. At this point, a pattern begins to emerge: multiple clients observed that Patrice was acting slightly out of character that morning.

Then, at 11:50 a.m., another call came into the salon, but Patrice did not answer—something investigators described as highly unusual. The last confirmed sighting of Patrice was at 11:27 a.m., and the final evidence of her being alive was the 11:35 a.m. phone call, which ended around 11:37 a.m.

This creates what investigators refer to as a critical 13-minute window.

The Unsolved Mysteries episode covering this case is titled 13 Minutes—a reference to the gap between the end of that call and the unanswered call at 11:50 a.m. GBI Special Agent in Charge Mitchell Posey stated that if investigators could determine what happened during those 13 minutes, they could likely solve the case. Unfortunately, that window has remained a mystery (Goldblum, 2020).

Later, Forsyth County 911 received a call from a client who had arrived for an appointment and found the salon empty. When investigators arrived, they discovered Patrice’s purse—with money still inside—left behind. However, the cash register was open and empty (Nicolau, 2020). Even more puzzling, the salon door was unlocked, and her vehicle was still parked outside (Arrington, 2010).

Investigators noted nothing in the salon suggested a struggle, but there were odd details. Her vehicle appeared to be parked differently than usual—facing west rather than backed into its typical position (Goldblum, 2020). This raised an important question: had the vehicle been moved, and if so, by whom?

Search efforts in the surrounding wooded areas yielded nothing. Those who knew Patrice were adamant—she would never have voluntarily left her son. However, Pistol recalled that weeks earlier, Patrice had asked him where he would go if he ever left home, a comment he found strange at the time.

One significant clue emerged from two eyewitnesses who did not know each other. Around 11:45 a.m., Tammy Fincher reported seeing a blue sedan—possibly a Chevrolet Lumina—with a Georgia wildlife license plate parked directly in front of the salon. She observed two women standing near the vehicle: one taller with dark hair, and another older woman closer to the side.

A second witness, a man driving by around the same time, described the vehicle as a Ford Taurus or Chevrolet Malibu. He believed he saw a man with shoulder-length hair near the car.

Investigators believe these witnesses may have seen the same individuals. The discrepancy—man versus woman—could be explained by the shoulder-length hair described by both (Goldblum, 2020).

It is important to note that in the early 2000s, vehicles such as the Chevrolet Lumina, Chevrolet Malibu, and Ford Taurus shared very similar designs. Their rounded, mid-size sedan profiles made them easily mistaken for one another, especially by passing drivers.

Despite this lead, searches produced no results.

Meanwhile, tension grew between Pistol and Patrice’s husband, Rob Endres. Rob admitted he did not get along with Pistol and changed the locks on their home the day after Patrice disappeared. Pistol was not allowed to retrieve his belongings (Ellis, 2020), and he ultimately went to live with his father.

Investigators explored multiple suspects. One was Gary Hilton, a known serial killer who had murdered Meredith Emerson in nearby Dawson County. Hilton was known to approach salons asking for money—an unsettling parallel.

Another suspect was Jeremy Jones, arrested in Alabama. He confessed to several murders, including that of a hairdresser in Georgia. When asked if it was Patrice Endres, he confirmed it. He provided details about abducting her and even drew a diagram consistent with eyewitness reports.

However, he claimed he disposed of her body in Sweetwater Creek—an area that was thoroughly searched with no results. He later recanted his confession, and investigators found no evidence linking him to the crime (Goldblum, 2020).

In 2005, a major breakthrough occurred. Volunteers at Lebanon Baptist Church in Dawson County discovered human remains while investigating buzzards circling nearby. The remains were identified as Patrice Endres. Her wedding ring, however, was never recovered (Arrington, 2020).

This discovery cast further doubt on Jones’s confession, as the location did not match his account.

Rob Endres later had her remains cremated and kept them in his home until his death in 2023.

Despite these developments, many questions remain:
Who killed Patrice Endres?
What happened to her wedding ring?
Who was in the blue car?
Was this a robbery, or something more targeted?
How did she leave the salon without her vehicle?

Theories continue to center around Gary Hilton, Jeremy Jones, and Rob Endres. However, no definitive evidence has linked any of them to the crime.

Investigators have emphasized the absence of “guilty knowledge”—details only the perpetrator would know. While Jones’s confession included some accurate elements, much of that information was already public.

Some believe Hilton’s known behavior aligns with the crime. Others speculate that Jones may have been hired, though no evidence supports that claim. Still others question Rob Endres due to circumstantial concerns—but again, no evidence has ever tied him to the crime, and he was never named a suspect.

So what happened to Patrice Endres?

Was she the victim of a robbery gone wrong? Targeted by a serial killer? Or is there a piece of the story that remains hidden?

After 22 years, her son is still without his mother. A community still seeks answers. And somewhere, the truth remains unresolved.

References
Arrington, J. (2010, April 24). Husband seeks closure in cold case. Forsyth County News. https://www.forsythnews.com/local/crime-courts/husband-seeks-closure-in-cold-case/.
Ellis, P. (2020, July 7). This is what happened to Pistol Black from Unsolved Mysteries. Men’s Health. https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a33235141/pistol-black-now-patrice-endres-unsolved-mysteries/.
Goldblum, J. (Director). (2020, July 1). 13 minutes (Season 1, Episode 2) [TV series episode]. In J. Cosgrove, T. D. Meurer, J. S. Barry, & S. Levy (Executive Producers), Unsolved Mysteries. 21 Laps Entertainment. Netflix.
Nicolaou, E. (2020, July 6). Unsolved Mysteries fans think they solved Patrice Endres’s murder. Oprah Daily. https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a33221170/patrice-endres-unsolved-mysteries-theories/

What Happened to Brian Wehrle?

(Photo of Jeff Rolsten and Brian Wehrle from wjbf.com)

The day should have started as a normal day for Brian Wehrle on September 24, 2009 in Carrollton, Georgia. He was supposed to be headed to a probate court hearing, in the midst of flooding conditions, for his mother, who suffered from Alzheimers. He never showed up in the courtroom. Brian was 39 years old, and he had power of attorney for his mother and managed her affairs. Before the day of this court session for which he was supposed to appear, he spent part of the previous night with his sister Anita and her family so that he could use their computer, and that was the last that was seen of Brian, as he went back to his mother's home on Crescent Drive. While he was with his sister's family, he expressed some concern about getting home amidst the flooding and bad shape that the flooding had left the roadways and highways. He even mentioned going to the local WalMart in town to buy a topographical map. To the best of his sister's knowledge, he went back to their mother's home and that is where his family thought he remained for the night. A neighbor mentioned seeing a light on in the garage of that home around 2:00 AM; however, that neighbor did not specifically know if Brian was the one in the garage. They only assumed it was him, as Brian had been there earlier in the day.
His partner Jeff and his family were left dumbfounded by his disappearance. The last they had heard from him was a voicemail he had left for Amanda, his niece, and a phone call made to Jeff around 9:00 PM the evening before his disappearance. Brian drove a 1992 Buick LeSabre, one belonging to his mother, but it, too, was missing. He left behind all his medication, some of which was for his heart condition. This was particularly alarming, as Brian was not remiss in taking his medication nor taking care of his health. He also suffered from narcolepsy and insomnia. Those medications were also left behind. Among so many other things, this greatly perplexed his family and partner. Brian and Jeff had been together for about 13 years, and the two were close. Brian would never just abandon Jeff, nor would he have abandoned his family. All of them felt there must be something wrong.
In the days before his disappearance, Brian had gone to the home of his mother to mow grass and check on the property at Crescent Drive in Carrollton. Brian, as his mother's conservator and guardian, took the lead in helping take care of the property, but often tasks were performed along with help from his siblings and various members of the family. Brian took his role as his mother's guardian quite seriously, and did so up to the day he disappeared. Brian appeared to be a very stable and productive citizen and family member. He graduated from Carrollton High School and then went to what is now The University of West Georgia, a regional university in Georgia also located in Carrollton. Before long, he had become close to the family of his sister, Anita Gay, particularly her husband, Spencer, who owned a surveying company called Due West Surveying. Spencer offered him an opportunity to work with him as a surveyer, so Brian left college and went to work with his brother-in-law. He remained there until his father passed and he was charged with taking care of his mother. Soon enough, the family decided to place their mother in a personal care home. By that time, Brian had met Jeff and begun a life with him. Jeff worked with Bellsouth, which eventually became AT&T. Jeff was well-received by Brian's family, and the two lived in a cottage on Morningside Drive in Virginia Highlands, a middle-class neighborhood considered to be a safe and family-friendly one in Atlanta. Brian, having left Spencer's company, spent most of his time taking care of his mother and her property, all the while commuting between his home in Virginia Highlands and his hometown in Carrollton.
One of the first thoughts about Brian's sudden disappearance was that he had possibly had been a victim of the weather and flooding that had gone on in the last few days around Carrollton. In fact, the dam at Lake Carroll, which was near the home of Brian's mother where he had been, was breeched. Although his family contended that weather had nothing to do with his disappearance, some in the community were not so sure. Three months later, the family's assertion was pretty much justified when Brian's car was found in Chattanooga, Tennessee with a stolen Tennessee tag. The Georgia tags that belonged to the car were nowhere to be found.
Authorities stated that nothing seemed disturbed inside the car. Brian had a bowl full of change in the car; it was still there when they found it, as was the receipt from Taco Bell where he ate in Carrollton the night before his disappearance. Although finding the car was a breakthrough, there were no usable fingerprints found in or on the car that could help investigators learn who had been in or around the car other than Brian. Investigators said that the car find, while good, did not lead to much more than they already knew other than what happened to the car and that it could have been stolen from Brian due to the stolen Tennessee car tag on it. Brian did not live in Tennessee, and there was no reason for Tennessee tags to be on the car.
Other things done by investigators included analyzing cell phone data and home phone records, providing Brian's information to the FBI, and sending information to the Georgia missing persons system. A thorough search of the home at Crescent Drive further perplexed investigators and family, as the bed Brian slept in while he was there was turned down but not slept in. The house did not show any signs of forced entry, but investigators know that someone was there the night before he disappeared, as neighbors reported seeing a light on in the garage and someone there at the house, but again, they could not be sure it was Brian. Wherever they looked, investigators hit dead ends. Although unsure if this was significant, investigators did find out that Brian's brother Terry had been to the house cleaning up the yard. Although it is unclear as to when he was there exactly, it was reported that he had consumed a few beers while there. Brian did not drink, so the consumption of any alcohol on the premises was assumed not to have been at the hand of Brian Wehrle. Because Terry was the only other person at the home near that time, it was concluded that Terry was indeed the one who drank the beer while there.
The case seemed to reach a dead-end every time it got moving. Jeff, Brian's partner, visited police in Carrollton to provide information, inquire about the status of the case, and to be as helpful as he could. So, too, did Anita and Spencer Gay, Brian's sister and brother-in-law. Other family members did all they could in cooperation with the police and on their own to try and figure out where Brian was or what had happened to him. In 2015, at the request of The Carrollton Police Department, Trace Sargent brought her dogs to the home of the Wehrle's parents to see if there were any clues that could possibly provide additional direction. Specifically trained to pick up on the scent of human remains, the dogs not only made a tour of the home and yards, but they also checked out the boat house. Officials from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations had already been there with cadaver dogs, but Trace Sargent's dogs were definitely worth a try. This time, something new emerged. The dogs picked up on a scent at the same spot right outside the boat house as well as one inside the boat house. After securing an additional search warrant, police were able to dig up the flooring inside the boat house. Unfortunately, they found nothing. The location of the spot right outside the boat house that drew the attention of the dogs was in the back near the spigot. However, authorities found no human remains nor anything that would give them another lead, but Sargent did state that the fact that the dogs did alert near the same spot was "intriguing." So far, no other major clues or leads have been released by the GBI or the Carrollton Police Department. Sadly,Jeff Rolsten, Brian's partner, passed away on August 9, 2017. He was 62 years old and died without ever knowing what happened to Brian. In addition, Brian's mother, Rhoda Florence Krouth Wehrle, died on November 18, 2014, just five years after Brian disappeared. She was 84 years old. Brian is listed as a surviving child in her obituary. At that time, the family had not given up hope of finding Brian alive. Brian's father died in 2007. The home on Crescent Drive in Carrollton has been sold, and another family lives there.
So what happened to Brian Wehrle? Did he decide to leave his life behind and start anew somewhere else? It is so difficult to do that in the modern age. The fact that Brian suffered from several possibly deadly issues including narcolepsy and heart issues, would have made it more difficult to just walk away and start over. His health issues would have caught up with him soon enough, particularly since those conditions would have to be treated by physicians and prescription medication. While it is possible to buy drugs on the black market, over time, Brian would have to seek the help of a medical professional. It might be difficult to hide his true identity at that point. So, perhaps Brian underwent a cardiac event or fell asleep as a result of his narcolepsy and drowned. This is plausible, but more than likely, a body or some remains would have turned up. The explanation that many put forward is that Brian was murdered by whomever stole his car and replaced the Georgia tag with a stolen Tennessee tag. If this were the case, then it would not be hard to explain why the car turned up in Tennessee, as this is not far from the Atlanta area where Brian lived and where his parent's home was in Carrollton. If Brian were murdered then where are his remains and who murdered him? Unfortunately, the fingerprints found on the car were insufficient to add to fingerprint databases that might have led to the identification of people who were in his car. Of course, simply because someone was in his car with him during the time he went missing does not mean that those people to which the prints belong murdered him nor know who did if indeed he were murdered, but they know something about his whereabouts or could provide extra information about the car, who was driving it, and where it was when they were in it or near it. Because those prints are unusable, perhaps we may never know. No update has been given if there was usable DNA found in the car besides Brian's. That too could help generate a lead and possibly provide more information on what happened to him and why his car was in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Perhaps weather did play a part in his disappearace, but surely a body would have been found had he fallen into Lake Carroll or was whisked away by flood waters. Brian would be 54 now. He was 39 at the time of his disappearance in 2009. He was 5'7, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and weighed about 140 pounds. He is a narcoleptic, suffers from insomnia, and has a heart condition. His family continues to seek answers to what happened. If anyone has any information that might help investigators solve this case and possibly find Brian, please contact the Carrollton Police Department at 770-834-4451.

References:
Alcorn, C. "An Atlanta man left his home to drive to Carrollton to secure his parent's estate in 2009. He has never been seen since." 11ALIVE. available online:https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/missing-in-georgia/atlanta-man-brian-wehrle-still-missing-14-years-mysterious-disappearance-carrollton-parents-estate/85-550d4143-a208-441d-a068-953a8259d8c5, Retrieved: 21 February 2025.
DuBose, R. "Cold Case Project/What happened to Brian Wehrle?" WJBF. available online:https://www.wjbf.com/coldcase/cold-case-project-what-happened-to-brian-wehrle/. Retrieved: 22 February 2025
"John Louis Wehrle Obituary," Hightower Family Funeral Homes. available online: https://www.hightowersmemorial.com/obituaries/John-Louis-Wehrle?obId=935352. Retrieved: 22 February 2025.
"Rhoda Florence Krouth Wehrle," Find a Grave. available online: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138931742/rhoda-florence-wehrle. Retrieved: 23 February 2025.

Who Bombed the Georgia Guidestones and Why?

 Back in 2008, almost 14 years ago, I blogged about one of the most notable mysteries in Georgia history, namely who was behind the construction and planning for the Georgia Guidestones and why? You can see that post here for all the backstory on them.
https://georgiamysteries.blogspot.com/2008/11/georgia-guidestones.html

I had never gotten the chance to visit the Guidestones; in fact, I have never even been to the city of Elberton, Georgia close to where they were located. It is a shame that I was not able to visit, as they are no more. On July 6, 2022, someone planted a bomb at the site of the Guidestones and partially destroyed them. Because the damage, which did not knock down all of the monument, was considered to be crippling, the remaining parts of the monument were demolished by local authorities. As much as it pains me to say this, I feel that this was the right call. The remaining part of the monument was not the same without the part which was destroyed. It was a danger, and visitors would not only have been in harms way near the monument as it was left after the explosion, but the entire story would have been about the bombing at that point and not the message the monument conveyed before that.

So this begs a few questions. First, who did this? Right now, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations is in charge of the search for the perpetrator(s). There are a lot of unanswered questions about who did this. Currently, all that is known is that sometime in the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, July 6th, an explosive device detonated and took out one of the four granite panels, essentially turning it into rubble. Video does exist of the explosion and can be seen at the CBS News link below. The video shows someone at the monument and then quickly running away right before the explosion around 4:00 AM that morning. There is also video of a silver sedan leaving the scene quickly afterwards. What many people did not know is that the monument has video surveillance filming around the clock. While the figure caught on camera is unrecognizable, the GBI says that they are working to enhance the image and using it to help jumpstart the investigation. At this time, the GBI and local police have not released any descriptions of the suspect or suspects. They do not know how many perpetrators may have been involved. The good news is the GBI has said it has many leads, so agents will be busy in the coming days investigating and following up on those leads.  
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/georgia-guidestones-blown-up-explosion/

The second question involves asking why. Why did someone want to see this monument destroyed? Was it offensive to a large number of people? Did the stones contain cryptic messages that would upend humanity and the current world order? Well, those are more difficult questions to answer, for if they apprehend a suspect, more than likely, the suspect(s) won't talk much, as most of them never do. They just deny involvement despite mounting evidence to the contrary. For the most part, the monument was a HUGE tourist attraction and somewhat of a boom for Elberton and Elbert County. People from all over would travel to the area to visit the Guidestones, and while they were there, they would eat, tour, buy gas, and sometimes stay over in local hotels. This is no more unless the Guidestones will be rebuilt, and given the fact that the original financier/mastermind behind the original erection of the monument is unknown but to a few, and the fact that he may be a person who has already passed on, the likelihood of another build is somewhat in doubt. However, some local groups have talked about spearheading a fundraising effort to replace them. If so, I am sure they will try to replicate what was already there. The stones contained messaging that some took offense to for various reasons. The first message-" Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature"-seemed to alarm some, especially given that there are over eight billion humans on Earth as of 2022. This would mean that we are about 7.5 billion out of balance.  Others may have been afraid of the messages about uniting humanity with one language and possibly the one about nations settling external disputes with a world court. Some felt the Guidestones called for a "New World Order" and a "One World Government." The message about maintaining humanity under half a billion people was somewhat frightening to many in light of the Covid-19 pandemic with groups thinking that the mastermind behind the Guidestones could somehow be involved an international cabal that was promoting the spread of Covid-19 to wipe out large numbers of humans to align with the half a billion message. Who knows?

Whoever is to blame for the explosion and eventual demolition of the Georgia Guidestones has reasons for his or her actions, I am sure. However, it is truly an example of someone or some group taking violent action to stamp out a message with which they did not agree. I cannot think of anything less American than that. Were the Guidestones strange and mysterious? Yes. Was the shroud of mystery that surrounded the origins of the monument such that inspired conspiracy theories? Yes. Nonetheless, the monument presented no threat to anyone as it stood. If anything, the messages were thought-provoking and inspired debate and discussion about how or if they could be accomplished. Discussion and debate are never bad things, but silencing the things that inspire debate and discussion usually is. As Chris Kubas, the Executive Vice President of the Elbert Granite Association told CBS News, "If you didn't like it, you didn't have to come see it and read it."

Is the Old Governor's Mansion in Milledgeville Haunted by Old Molly?

 Often called the First Lady of Milledgeville, or the Gem of Milledgeville, the Old Governor's Mansion is the centerpiece of the historic district in Millledgeville and one of the highlights of the Georgia College & State University Campus. Designed by noted architect Charles Cluskey, an Irish immigrant, and built by Connecticut builder Timothy Porter, the mansion was finished in about 1839 (Georgia College & State University, 2021). While Milledgeville was founded in 1803 and named for Georgia Governor John Milledge, the state legislature did not designate the city the permanent capital of Georgia until 1805, and the state legislature opened its first official meeting in the city in the newly constructed statehouse in 1807. The Old Capital Building is now the main administrative building and a classroom facility at Georgia Military College's main site in Milledgeville. The Old Governor's Mansion did not begin housing governors until 1839, well after the seat of power was moved there 32 years prior. The first governor to occupy the mansion was Governor George Rockingham Gilmer, who moved in in 1839 during the end of his term (Turner, 2013). Other governors who lived there were Charles McDonald, George Crawford, George Towns, Howell Cobb, Herschel Johnson, Joseph Brown, Provisional Governor James Johnson, Charles Jenkins, and Provisional Governor General Thomas Ruger (Turner, 2013). Howell Cobb also served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and President Buchannan's Secretary of the Treasury, and Herschel Johnson was Stephen Douglas' running mate in 1860 against eventual winner Abraham Lincoln. Governor Ruger was appointed as military governor during Reconstruction (Turner, 2013).

While the mansion was the center of power for a few chaotic periods of Georgia history, perhaps the most memorable of those epochs was the arrival of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman as he entered the city of Milledgeville during his famous March to the Sea in November 1864. While in Milledgeville, Sherman stayed at the mansion. Other events that occurred in the state while the mansion served as the home of the chief executives were the Cherokee Removal and Trail of Tears and the Civil War itself. 

One can imagine that a home to so many influential politicians and so many chaotic and perilous events discussed, managed, and even played out in or near the mansion, that there would be stories of the supernatural and strange. I have gone on many tours of the mansion in the last 15 years, one of them recently as part of their Death: After Dark Tour Series where I learned about the way our ancestors in the 19th century dealt with death. Of particular interest was the death of the brother of Governor Joseph Emerson Brown-Joseph Mackey Brown. He died as the result of a wound while serving as an officer in the Confederate service. Joseph M. Brown died in the mansion in July of 1864. In fact, the mansion used to do a murder mystery tour where guests try to solve the murder of Mr. Brown, albeit he was not murdered and was killed as a result of military action, a fact the mansion staff makes very clear (Pound, 2017).  

Along those lines, during the Death: After Dark Tour I attended was about over, one patron asked the tour guide, who was quite the storyteller and very familiar with the history of the mansion, if there were any ghost stories or episodes of the paranormal that she could relate. She stated very clearly that the mansion was not haunted, and that the staff knew of no ghost stories she could recall. However, some have had quite a different experience in the mansion through the years. The man responsible for establishing the mansion as a historical "must visit" was James Turner, who was the Mansion Director and Adjunct Professor of History at GCSU. Sadly, he passed away in 2017, and in his stead, the mansion was left in the care of Matthew Davis, his protégé. Matthew has turned the mansion into an even greater historical asset to Georgia, and has even managed to get the mansion affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. During Turner and Davis' tenures at the mansion, thousands of visitors and researchers have visited the mansion, not to mention the many students, employees, docents, and graduate assistants. 

Although I have never sat down and discussed this with Matthew or asked him if he has found anyone by the name of Molly in the historical record at the mansion, stories do abound about a cook who served in the mansion. Apparently Molly was well-known for a few of her specialties, which included black-eyed peas with pork and blueberry muffins. Some visitors and workers at the mansion have reported smelling those things inside the mansion itself, although there is no place in the mansion where those items could be cooked. While the mansion includes the restored kitchen where food was prepared in days of old, the wood-fired stoves and fireplaces are no longer operated and there would be no one cooking those items inside the mansion. While no one is sure of who "Molly" is, nor when she lived in the mansion or if she is even real, it should be noted that there is a cafeteria nearby the mansion across the street at the Maxwell Student Union. Food is served there to students at GCSU. It should also be noted that there are bakeries in downtown Milledgeville, most notably Ryals Bakery, that could be the source of the smell of the blueberry muffins. However, the timeframe of when these stories were told and originated is not known. 

Besides the smells associated with "Molly," the cooking ghost, stories are told of bed-linens being tossed from their beds, and the scent of cigars. It should be noted that there is no smoking allowed inside the mansion, and the policy is strictly enforced. Another story involves the local fire department. Once, the staff of the mansion smelled burned potatoes. The smell became so strong that it alarmed everyone, and for safety sake, the fire department was called. Upon arrival and investigation, the source of the smell was never found (Hargrett, 2014). 

So is the mansion haunted? Or are these stories just the flights of fancy of ghost hunters or the over-active imagination of staff and visitors who are projecting their fears and suspicion and making more of the issues than there really is? Could the smells have originated outside the mansion? Was there ever a cook there named "Molly?" If so, is it possible that she is still hanging around the mansion and its grounds cooking up the victuals for which she was so well-known? I have no clue, but what I do know is that a visit to the mansion is never disappointing, and stepping into the building is like stepping back into the 1850s. 

                                            Photo courtesy of gcsu.edu and the OGM page.

References:
Hargrett, K. (October 29, 2014). "The Ghost of the Old Governor's Mansion," 41WMGT. Retrieved from: https://www.41nbc.com/the-ghost-of-the-old-governors-mansion/.

Pound, G. (October 13, 2017). "First-Ever Murder Mystery at Old Governor's Mansion Sells Out in an Hour," The Union-Recorder. Retrived from: https://www.unionrecorder.com/news/first-ever-murder-mystery-at-old-governor-s-mansion-sells-out-in-an-hour/article_4c5ad78a-afc7-11e7-8cc9-bb4d2fd8c7a7.html.

Turner, J. (2013). Old Governor's Mansion. In New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archeologuy/old-governors-mansion/.

Georgia College & State University. (2021). Georgia's Old Governor's Mansion. GCSU. Retrieved from: https://www.gcsu.edu/mansion.

The Strange Disappearance of Justin Gaines

 One of the highest profile disappearances in Georgia was that of Justin Gaines. Gaines, 18 years old and a freshman at what was then called Gainesville State College, now part of The University of North Georgia, decided to spend the evening with friends at a local nightclub and hangout known as Wild Bill's in Duluth, Georgia in Gwinnett County. That would be the last night anyone would see Justin Gaines. The date was November 2, 2007.

The Thursday night in question was a popular night at Wild Bill's-Thirsty Thursday, as they called it. Local police investigating the case said there were over 3000 people in attendance that night at the club. While there, surveillance cameras picked up Justin on their footage, but then he simply vanished. The last image where Justin showed up was of him making a cell phone call to a friend to come and pick him up. After that, the cameras had no more images of the missing teenager. From what police understand, Justin phoned several friends, and none of them were able to come and pick him up from the club. So, Justin left the club around 1:30 AM.

There are several important things to note about Justin while he was at the club. Apparently, he took a lot of cash with him to Wild Bill's. Why is unclear. Additionally, he was wearing a diamond earring in his ear, something he routinely wore out and about. Detectives investigating the case theorized that this probably attracted the attention of the wrong kind of person, and that could have had something to do with his disappearance. The theory gained some traction with the emergence of a suspect named Dylan Glass, a convicted felon and gang member. Glass told police that he indeed did assault Justin and took the diamond earring from his ear, but he did not kill Justin. As of 2017, Glass was not charged with anything related to the Gaines case, but Glass was in federal prison at the time of the confession serving a sentence for unrelated charges. One thing to note about Glass, however, is rumors have circulated about him telling a friend he killed Justin Gaines, and according to Justin's mother, Erika Wilson, Glass was saying this prior to her reporting Justin missing. While such a claim is difficult to substantiate and Glass maintains he does not know the whereabouts of Justin nor did he kill the 18-year old boy, in 2011, another suspect, Martin Leonard Wilkie was arrested for concealing a death. The reason: Glass told authorities that he and Wilkie had in fact assaulted Gaines and shot him to death. It gets worse from there. Glass and Wilkie supposedly placed Justin's body in a toolbox and then took it to Walton County. Horribly, Glass' mother, Ruth Ballew, was potentially involved, as it was told that she helped the two men dispose of the body. She even led investigators to the location where they supposedly dumped Justin, but no body or evidence of remains were found there. Ultimately, she was charged with making false statements to police.

Police also strongly believe a blonde-haired lady lured Justin into her car for a ride home form the club. The following is just theory. They think the woman took Justin to a house in nearby Snellville where he was robbed and killed. They further theorize that the killers probably threw his body in Lake Lanier, and when it surfaced, they retrieved it and dumped it down a well, which some say was in nearby Barrow or Walton County. Police investigators have searched nearby wells for human remains, and nothing has been found. To this date, no one has seen him, heard from him, nor found further evidence of his whereabouts. Remains have been found near Lake Lanier, but so far, none of them have been identified as Justin Gaines. 

So the question remains, what happened to the boy? Why did he not have a ride home from the club? Did he tell anyone at the club where he planned to go after the night was over? Who was this mysterious blonde woman who supposedly lured him into her car for a ride home? Did the money he flashed and his diamond ring draw attention from thieves and miscreants who then robbed and killed him? Did Dylan Glass really assault Justin and take his diamond earring but leave him alive, or does he know more than he is telling?  Did he and Wilkie shoot Justin and dump his body off in Walton County with the help of Ruth Ballew, Glass' mother? If not, why did they lie, and why did Ruth Ballew put herself in jeopardy by lying to police and taking them on a wild goose chase looking for a body that wasn't there or ever was? Or was it at one time?  Another pressing question is that Justin's parents told him that he could always call them for a ride home, no matter what time of night or morning it was, but he didn't. Why? Of course, the ultimate and most important questions are, what happened to Justin Gaines, and where are his remains?

The above is a picture of Gaines at 18. Today, he would be 32 years old. He stood at 5'10-5'11 and weighed about 230 pounds at his disappearance. There is a reward for information leading to his remains or for information that could solve the case. His mother and investigators believe that Justin is dead, so this is a recovery rather than a rescue attempt.

Further Reading:
Coyne, A.C. (November 2, 2017). The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved from: https://www.ajc.com/news/local/now-been-years-since-gwinnett-teen-justin-gaines-disappeared/Vbl3QRbE4hmzJjCpw9ig6L/.

Kellog, B. (September 30, 2019). 11Alive. Retrieved from: https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/justin-gaines-human-remains/85-9086be5f-fa30-4885-8c24-554b9b228e1e.

The Charley Project (March 12, 2018). Justin Glen Gaines. Retrieved from:  https://charleyproject.org/case/justin-glen-gaines.

Eerie Georgia: Chilling Tales from the Mountains to the Sea by Jim Miles, A Good Read!

 Jim Miles has staked out a position in the Georgia paranormal literary world as "Mr. Weird Georgia," mostly owing the moniker to his many books on ghosts and the supernatural in Georgia. Some of his most popular books are Weird Georgia: Close Encounters, Strange Creatures, and Unexplained Phenomena, Civil War Ghosts of Atlanta, and Haunted North Georgia. He has also released a number of books on the Civil War in Georgia. Recently, I ran across one of his more recent books from the last few years, and I am glad I did. Eerie Georgia: Chilling Tales from the Mountains to the Sea is a great read. It is jam packed with vignettes about the strange, supernatural, weird, and unexplained in the Peach State. Written in narrative style, Miles provides access to some of the weirdest, yet interesting events in Georgia. Some of the more common stories can be found in the book, including sightings of Altamaha-ha, otherwise known as Georgia's Loch Ness monster, and the ghosts of the Windsor Hotel in Americus, but Miles also presents a bevy of other tales that even the most avid reader of strange and macabre tales from Peach State, like me, might never have heard. I have taken the liberty of listing a few of those below, as well as a brief description of the tale. These were some of the more interesting to me.

1. Connie's Sage-This story details memories related to the author by a lady who claimed to have alien encounters throughout her life, and vivid details about at least three encounters, one of which was in her youth, and another that included her husband. The story was definitely weird and has the potential to cause chill bumps, particularly with the extreme circumstances behind the encounters and contact with the beings she described.

2. Ancient Roman Coin-This narrative particularly interested me as an historian and professor of history. The story relates details about a woman who once lived in a small community outside Savannah and her issues with the septic lines outside her home. When a professional came and dug into the yard in an attempt to fix the problem an ancient Roman coin was unearthed. The discovery brought up great points about the historical narrative and assumption that Christopher Columbus and his crews were the first Europeans to successfully explore and infiltrate the interior of North America. Of course, the voyages of Leif Erickson are also relevant to this discussion, but even so, the Roman coin would predate the Leif Erickson voyage by a millennium or more. This story is definitely one that most Georgians know nothing about and has the potential to cause a divergence from the accepted narrative about the Age of Exploration and Discovery.

3. Mad Gassers-Similar to stories from the Midwest and other parts of the country, Columbus and Bainbridge seemed to have an issue with what the writer calls a Mad Gasser. In one account, a family dog was able to wake up the rest of the family before too much damage was done, people were harmed, or property stolen. The gasser escaped, but his fumes, piped into the home via windows, did have an impact on the residents and made some of them ill. In yet another account from Bainbridge, the gasser attacked several times and several families in a neighborhood in the mid-1940s, just as World War II was coming to a close. Filling the homes with a sweet smelling gas that made residents ill, one family was so frightened they left their home and had to stay with neighbors. As is to be expected, no one was ever charged with the crimes, so the Mad Gassers were at large for quite a while. With the large chunk of time that has passed, it would be quite logical to assume they are now dead, that is if death came naturally to whatever or whomever this fiend was.

The book describes a great deal of phenomena in Georgia. From the Mud Volcano at the Temple of Nodoroc to the stories about falling fish from the sky, Eerie Georgia will not disappoint. 

Happy New Year!!!

 Greetings to all my followers and readers!
I want to wish you all a Happy New Year, and although we are already ten days into 2021, I felt compelled to come to the blog and wish you all the best and brightest in this new year. I know that we have been through quite a spell, as my great-grandmother used to say, in 2020, and 2021 has not started off much better, if any better at all. However, there is much to look forward to in 2021. We have vaccines, and we hope and pray they work. We have a new administration coming in, and although I never reveal how I vote, and I have no intention of making this blog a political blog at all, a new administration always brings with it new ideas and optimism about solving old and new issues. Like I did with President Trump, I plan to give President Biden the respect he deserves as the new leader of the free world and hope that he can help grow and heal the country. I wish President Trump all the best-and yes, I refer to him as President Trump, as that is what he is. I do not, nor will I ever engage in name-calling or childish antics. I, like so many others right now, plan to demonstrate the attitude and behavior we expect to see from our elected leaders. In other words, I plan to "Be the change I want to see." I hope and pray that you all will as well, and that our leaders, from BOTH parties, will do so along with us. I do wish you all the best, and another thing to look forward to is more posts from me in the new year. There are some exciting things happening, and I plan to post about recent events so that you may be able to follow them.

Again, Happy New Year, and I wish you all the best in the coming days. God bless.

Grey Ghost of Kinchafoonee Creek: Bigfoot, Farmer, or Hog-Bear?

 Although the most noted bigfoot story in Georgia tends to be the one that comes from the depths of the Okefenokee Swamp in 1829, there are many more, including the Elkins Creek incident that are as notable and hair-raising if I do say so myself. One that has grown in popularity is the Kinchafoonee Creek Attack in 1955. I am sure the name of the creek rings a bell given the recent fame of the musical group-The Kinchafoonee Cowboys. The group hails from Terrell County, Georgia with several of the members having grown up near the banks of Kinchafoonee Creek. That is, interestingly, from where our story hails, albeit about 36 years prior to the first time the Kinchafoonee Cowboys strung together a few chords and recorded their first song. In fact, it predates the Elkins Creek incident by about forty years. 

For this incident, I got back to my book Bigfoot in Georgia as well as to a few sites that chronicle the strange and unusual-such sites as cryptopia.us. The sighting can also be read in Janet and Colin Bord's Bigfoot Casebook Updated. It seems to be a quite interesting AND popular case in the world of Bigfoot sightings and reports. 

According to the report, on August 1, 1955, a 20 year-old man named Joseph Whaley (Wells, 2010; Morphy, 2018) was cleaning brush with a scythe in Terrell County, Georgia on the Bronwood-Smithville Highway. The area was near Kinchafoonee Creek (Bord & Bord, 2006), which was known to be infested with alligators (Morphy, 2018). The day was hot and muggy, and the only reason Whaley was out in such weather doing such a job was he was working for the Georgia Forestry Commission. As he moved along with his work, he stopped because he heard a strange noise coming from the thicket near the banks of the creek (Morphy, 2018). The noise must have been similar to that made by wild pigs because in the report, Whaley mentioned that he assumed that is what the culprit indeed was. He moved in closer to see, and that was when he claimed a huge ape-like creature busted through the canopy in the thicket trying to attack him. Whaley described the animal as about six feet tall, about 400 pounds, and covered with hair that was both grey and shaggy in appearance (Wells, 2010; Morphy, 2018; Bord & Bord, 2006). According to Whaley, the animal also had tusks and pointed ears, as well as thick arms and small hands (Morphy, 2018). 

Having been frightened by the animal, Whaley swung his scythe at it. His swing made contact and struck the animal on its chest and one of its arms. Undeterred, the creature continued to move toward Whaley who decided that he had better get back to the jeep he had come to the site in and get away from the area as quickly as possible (Wells, 2010). It was then that the beast roared loudly. Whaley ran quickly to his jeep and decided to radio for help, a questionable decision at that point given that he was under attack. He was unable to make contact, so Whaley jumped in the jeep and tried to start it; however, right as he attempted to start the vehicle, the creature yanked him through the window which caused his shirt to tear and resulted in flesh wounds to his left should. Whaley reported that there were three scratches on his left shoulder as a result of the contact (Morphy, 2018). He managed to get himself free from the creature and crawl quickly out the passenger's side of the jeep and hurriedly ran into the thick woods with the beast in pursuit (Morphy, 2018). Reaching the woods, his face and body were pelted with limbs and branches from the thicket of trees and shrubs in the thicket near the creek. He would often glance back to keep tabs on how close this fiend of an animal was to him, and he soon realized he had indeed put distance between himself and whatever this was. Circling back through another area, he soon reach the jeep, leaped in, found his keys, started the jeep and screeched away. His next stop was at the nearest ranger station where he was treated for the scratches on his shoulder. He was also able to report the incident to the ranger, Jim Bowen, who was able to recall the story and repeat it under oath when asked (Morphy, 2018). The incident also attracted the attention of the media, and a United press representative contacted Bowen who reported to the journalist that he indeed followed up on the report and went to the scene of the attack and found evidence of a struggle. Others who explored the scene also reported the appearance of tracks that were small and the size of a human hand (Morphy, 2018). There was indeed something that attacked Whaley according to the evidence. Bowen saw the scratches; he saw the evidence of a struggle at the site, and others reported tracks found that were similar to the small hands Whaley mentioned the creature had. However, not everyone believed Whaley (Morphy, 2018).

Terrell County Sheriff Zeke Matthews reported finding no trace of the creature, and even stated that had he believe Whaley, he would have carried on a full-scale search. The investigation he did conduct lasted one day. By the time the sun set on Terrell County on August 1, 1955, the sheriff's search had ended. As GBI agents investigated the attack, they reached the conclusion that the attack had been carried out by an angry farmer who dressed up in a costume to scare off trespassers and folks who were fishing in his private lake without his permission. The costume was nothing more than a Halloween mask, according to the GBI. However, there was some confusion, as the director of the GBI, Major Delmar Jones, went on to state that the attack was probably not the farmer, but was the result of a "hog-bear" attack. He described "hog-bears" as little black bears that were not nearly as large as grizzly bears (Morphy, 2018). 

So there are a few questions here. First, if it were a "hog-bear," as Agent Jones proposed, why did Whaley not recognize that he was being attacked by a bear? Second, was there a rash of "hog-bear" attacks in the area, or at least reports of sightings of these animals? Third, did anyone think to ask the farmer if it were him? Fourth, why would Whaley make up such a story and jeopardize his job and place in the community? Fifth, why did the sheriff not further investigate and ask those questions? Sixth, what was the animal/creature that attacked Whaley? Was it a bear? A grey bigfoot? This case is now 65 years old. It is doubtful that we will ever know what the "Grey Ghost of Kinchafoonee Creek" really was.

References:
Bord, J. & Bord, C. (2006). Bigfoot casebook updated: Sightings and encounters from 1818 to 2004. Eunemclaw, Washington: Pine Winds Press.

Morphy, R. (2018). "Grey ghost of Kinchafoonee: Georgia, USA," Retrieved from: https://www.cryptopia.us/site/2018/06/grey-ghost-of-kinchafoonee-georgia-usa/.

Wells, J. (2010). Bigfoot in Georgia. Eunemclaw, Washington, Pine Winds Press.

Dennis Perry's Conviction in the Murders of Harold and Thelma Swain Overturned!

In April of this year, I posted a pretty lengthy blog post about the murder of Harold and Thelma Swain, an older African American couple in Waverly, Georgia who were gunned down in cold blood by a white male assailant as they worshiped at Rising Daughters Baptist Church. In 2003, Dennis Perry was convicted of the murder, and he has served almost 17 years of two life sentences for the double homicide. This week, Dennis's conviction was overturned, and he is out on bond after the judge ordered that he be released on his own recognizance.

Reports from Fox News indicate a judge overturned Perry's 2003 conviction based on DNA evidence from the crime scene that matched another suspect, Erik Sparre, aged 57. Sparre, who was originally a suspect, was dropped from the list of suspects by police when he was able to produce an alibi for the time of the murders; however, his alibi was recently proven to be false. Once Dennis Perry's attorney found out that the alibi was not legitimate, they requested DNA tests. The tests revealed DNA found at the scene did not match Perry, and instead matched Erik Sparre. The DNA sample used to match the DNA found at the scene of the murders was provided by Sparre's mother, Gladys Sparre. In a strange twist to this story, Gladys Sparre was found dead in her Waynesville home on Sunday, July 19th. She had been seen alive as recently as Friday, July 17th. At this time, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations is investigating and awaiting the results of an autopsy.

So what happens to Dennis Perry? Keep in mind that at this point, he is out on bond. For now, it is up to the District Attorney for that judicial circuit as to whether or not Dennis Perry will be retried. Judging from all the evidence stacking up against Erik Parre, I doubt that Perry will be retried, and it is likely that an indictment of Parre could be an option.  The Georgia Innocence Project was behind Perry much of they way. My earlier blog in April about this case outlines the problems with evidence presented by prosecutors, as well as the information about the attempts to free Dennis Perry. The GBI reopened the case in May, and the district attorney commented they were waiting on the GBI to wrap-up that investigation before making a decision either way. Perry's attorneys from the Georgia Innocence Project are calling on the district attorney and state to drop all charges against Perry in light of the evidence discovered recently pointing to the fact his DNA did NOT match any DNA found at the murder scene.

So, as I always do, I pose a few questions.
1. Why was the alibi for Erik Parre not thoroughly investigated? Or was it?
2. Where is all that missing evidence that supposedly pointed to Dennis Perry as the killer?
3. Have the sheriff and district attorney in the original case commented on the recent findings?
4. What motive might Erik Parre have had to kill the Swains? Did he know them at all?
5. What happened to Gladys Parre? Was she murdered? If so, could it have been in retaliation for providing a hair sample for DNA testing?
6. Did Gladys Parre willfully provide the DNA sample?

Hopefully, the GBI will wrap-up their investigation soon. Here is a clip from First Coast News out of Jacksonville, Florida, the major metropolitan area nearest Waverly.
https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/crime/man-to-be-released-from-prison-after-20-years-following-discovery-of-new-evidence/77-9ad8c316-12eb-4e9b-b5e9-338733b87add

The Atlanta Ripper Episode on The Fall Line Podcast

Back in the early winter of 2020, well before the world seemed to come to an end, I was contacted by Laura Norton and Brooke Hargrove, the creators and hosts of The Fall Line Podcast. If you have never listed to their podcasts, you are certainly missing out. I like to say that it is the Unsolved Mysteries of the podcasting world; however, Laura and Brooke are much lovelier than the esteemed Robert Stack was, and I am sure if our favorite mystery show host were still with us today, he would agree.
At any rate, the ladies asked me if I would be willing to participate in recording their upcoming series on The Atlanta Ripper. After having read my book on the murders and conducting their own research, they felt strongly compelled to do a series on the grisly episode that often gets overlooked in Atlanta history. I agreed, and the pair traveled to Milledgeville on a rainy February day to interview me for the podcast. The episode released last week. So far only part one is available with part two coming soon. If part two is ANYTHING like part one, you won't want to miss out. The link to their website is here https://www.thefalllinepodcast.com/.  To listen to their podcast, I simply logged on to the Podcast app on my IPhone. However, there are a number of places where the podcast is available including Spotify. Check out their website for more details! The first part of the series will get you hooked. While you are at it, check out their other seasons. Of particular interest to me are the series about The Millbrook Twins and Shy'Kemmia Pate. My heart breaks for these lost young girls each time I listen to these episodes.
From my understanding from talking with Laura and Brooke, more episode are on the way about both well-known and not so well-known missing person cases in Georgia, some of which I have written about on this very blog site. Again, if you have not tuned in, you are missing a great podcast.

Did Dennis Perry Really Murder Harold and Thelma Swain, or Did the Court Convict the Wrong Man?

     In one of the farthest corners of the state of Georgia in Camden County, two older African Americans were gunned down in cold blood by an assailant later believed to be Dennis Perry. However, there is much controversy surrounding his accusation and subsequent conviction. The events in question have mystified local residents, legal scholars, and amateur sleuths alike.
     In the small area of Waverly, Georgia, not far from the Georgia/Florida Line, African Americans gathered for Bible study at Rising Daughters Baptist Church on March 11, 1985. The meeting included both Harold and Thelma Swain, a married couple from the area who were stalwarts in the community and faithful, active members of the church. Swain was conducting the Bible study and missionary meeting where almost a dozen people were in attendance. Around 9:00 PM, one of the worshipers in attendance had to leave due to a prior commitment. As she left the area of the church where the meeting convened, she encountered something strange. A young white male approached her and said he needed to see someone. When questioned about who he needed to see, the young man pointed to Harold Swain, who had since entered the area. According to others on the scene, several of the other women in attendance saw the young man, but like the first woman he approached, no one recognized him. Very shortly after Harold approached the young white man, gunshots were heard, and after all was over, Harold Swain was shot several times. Hearing the gunshots, Thelma, Harold's wife, rushed out to see what was going on, and as a result, the young man shot her. Afraid for their lives, the other women who were part of the meeting rushed in to the pastor's office for protection. It was there they tried to phone the police; however, the phone did not work because the phone lines at the church had been cut. Finally, one of the women in the pastor's study summoned the courage to dash to the car and drive for help (Masee-Yost, 2007; Harold and Thelma Swain, n.d).
     Shortly afterwards, police arrived where they found Harold mortally wounded; he was shot four times-three times in the chest and one time in the head. Thelma fared no better but was shot only once in the upper right side of her chest. She too died of her wounds. Harold Swain was sixty-six years old, and his wife, Thelma, was sixty-two (Harold and Thelma Swain, n.d). They were well-respected members of the community, and their death horrified their family, friends, neighbors, and members of the congregation and community. There was no apparent reason for the murders, and because the young man who did the deed asked to speak to Harold, albeit not by name but by sight in the vestibule, it was apparent this was not a random act of violence (Harold and Thelma Swain, n.d.; Masee-Yost, 2007).
     The Georgia Bureau of Investigations teamed up with local authorities in Camden County to investigate the case. At the scene of the crime, investigators found bullet casings and three pairs of eyeglasses. One pair belonged to Mr. Swain, the other to Mrs. Swain, and the other was believed to have belonged to the assailant. Joe Gregory of the GBI was one of the first investigators on the scene. He proceeded to collect evidence and interview witnesses, gaining a description of the assailant from the women who were with the Swains on the night of the attack. However, he soon found that most of the witnesses only got a brief look at the man, and that was from a distance. This is logical given the chaos and fear that riveted through the group at the sound of gunfire and the sight of their beloved friends massacred by a madman. Agent Gregory commented the lenses of the set of glasses that must have belonged to the shooter were fairly thick, and the surface of the frames had been impacted by the use of a blowtorch. The earpieces did not match. It was further deduced the wearer was farsighted with astigmatism in the right eye (Rush, 2015).  All this led Agent Gregory and police to believe the perpetrator could not afford a decent pair of glasses, so he modified these to fit him. There was some speculation this was a robbery gone wrong; however, the assailant left $300.00 in Harold Swain's pocket which led investigators to frown on this theory. Other evidence found at the scene were five bullet casings, five blue plastic shirt buttons, a white plastic button, four pieces of cut telephone wire, human hair in the hinges of the eyeglass frames, and Pepsi bottles-both of which were found in the parking lot of the church. Blood spatters at the scene were assumed to be the Swains, so no samples were ever taken (Masee-Yost, 2007; Greene, 2007; Rush, 2015). Investigators also collected the top of the telephone connection box and a smudged mirror from the church vestibule (Rush, 2015). Of course, notes on the eyewitness accounts and crime scene photos were part of the evidence collected.
     Some have been led to suggest the murder was premeditated given the phone lines to the church were cut. If the assailant had done this, and it is logical to assume he did, as there were no reports of a malfunctioning phone or interruption in service prior to the murder, then this could have indicated premeditation. A composite sketch was made and circulated, and police began to mount a widespread manhunt for the assailant. About 135 miles away in Telfair County (near McRae-Helena), police pulled over the driver of a car for minor traffic violations, and they arrested him and two passengers when they found a few weapons in the trunk of the car. One of those arrested was Donnie Barrentine, a man who had reportedly bragged about murdering a black preacher and his wife in a church; however, when questioned intensely about the statements, Barrentine claimed he had been lying and only trying to get attention by doing so (Harold and Thelma Swain, n.d). It just so happens one of the weapons found in the trunk of the car was a .25 caliber pistol, similar to the one used in the murder of the Swains. One might ask why Barrentine was not tried for the murder of the Swains. He was asked to be part of a lineup, and the woman who had encountered the murderer at the church on the night in question could not positively identify the assailant from anyone in the lineup. Nonetheless, it should be noted the lady did claim the boots Barrentine wore were identical to the ones the assailant wore the night the Swains were murdered (Masee-Yost, 2007). Barrentine failed a polygraph exam, but the composite drawing made by sketch artists based on the eyewitnesses at the scene of the crime did not match Barrentine, albeit some seemed to think it resembled him slightly (Harold and Thelma Swain, n.d). Barrentine, while serving five years for weapons charges associated with his arrest in Telfair County, was not charged with the murder of the Swains. The district attorney who eventually tried the case also felt the witnesses who heard Barrentine state he had murdered a black couple in a church in Georgia were unreliable, with most of them being "dope-heads and prostitutes," (Greene, 2007, para. 35).
     Another lead came in about a year later. Agent Gregory realized the composite drawing which had helped lead investigators to not charge Barrentine did resemble a transient from Kansas who had been involved in a church robbery there in 1981. This lead led nowhere, as no one was ever able to find or identify the transient in Kansas, and the only thing known about him was he drove a car with Florida license plates (Harold and Thelma Swain, n.d). It should be noted Rising Daughters Baptist Church is very near the Georgia/Florida line. Furthermore, although some believed the murder was a result of a robbery gone wrong, Camden County Sheriff Bill Smith did not believe that to be the case. He pointed to the cut phone lines and the $300.00 remaining in Harold Swain's pocket as proof this was a hit on Harold Swain and not a robbery gone wrong. Smith felt the killer probably knew Swain and he came there to kill him; Smith also felt Thelma Swain was killed only because she rushed in to help her husband and may not have necessarily been the target of the murder, although he could not definitively prove the assertion. Smith was a personal friend of the Swains, and he was familiar with Rising Daughters Baptist Church. Because of its location in a rural part of the county, the church often had transients stop in asking for help. Sheriff Smith did not feel this was the case with the man who murdered his friends (Masee-Yost, 2007).
     In 1988, the Swain's murders were part of a weekly telecast on the popular true crime show Unsolved Mysteries. While it would not be unusual for a murder case like the Swain's to be featured on the popular program, which is my favorite show of all time, I might add, followed closely by Murder, She Wrote, one thing about the episode was quite unusual-it featured the use of the actual glasses found at the crime scene and thought to be the ones worn by the perpetrator.  In one scene on the show, Robert Stack, the series' popular host, can be seen holding them in his hand. While other episodes have featured the showing of actual evidence, this was unusual because the evidence was sent to the producers and was physically present on the set. Sadly enough, that was the last time the glasses were ever seen (Masee-Yost, 2007)! Agent Gregory was not happy the sheriff sent those glasses to the show's producers, particularly given the case was unsolved at the time. In fact, much of the evidence collected from the original investigation is missing, with only the bullet casings, bullets from the bodies, three pieces of phone wire, and one blue button remaining (Rush, 2015).
     Although the eyeglasses were lost and could possibly still be sitting in a studio somewhere in Hollywood unidentified, the case's appearance on the popular show did bring in quite a few leads. One lead came from a resident in Camden County named Jane Beaver. She saw the show and said the composite sketch shown on the episode looked similar to Dennis Perry, a man who once dated her daughter (Greene, 2007). Beaver also contended Perry tried to borrow money from Harold Swain unsuccessfully. She told investigators that Perry told her Swain had laughed in his face, which infuriated Perry who swore to seek revenge on Swain and threatened to "kill that n****r" (Perry vs. Upton, Writ of Habeas Corpus, 2019). One thing to note about the composite drawing and the description given by eyewitnesses at the scene is there are only a few details about the assailant which all of the witnesses could agree upon-namely it was a young white male. However, the rest of the witnesses gave descriptions which were slightly different; none of them could totally agree on what the man actually looked like. This is problematic, as in a court of law, only consistent, positive identifications by eyewitnesses can withstand scrutiny and challenge.
     Beaver claimed Perry bore a strong resemblance to the man in the drawing, and he had lived in Camden County at one time, moving to Jonesboro, Georgia in 1984. He worked for a concrete company there, and after interviewing him and his supervisor, investigators found he was not in the vicinity of Camden County when the murder took place. Also, Vanzola Williams, the eyewitness who the assailant met in the vestibule and said he needed to speak to someone, failed to pick Perry out of a line-up (Rush, 2015). Agents were unable to muster enough evidence to arrest Perry, and in fact, they did not think he was their man based on the interviews and the lack of a positive ID from Williams in the lineup.
     The case remained open for ten more years after the 1988 Unsolved Mysteries episode, and in 1998, Dale Bundy was assigned to the case. In the ten year interim, Jane Beaver continued calling the show's  hotline as it went in to reruns claiming the assailant was Dennis Perry. In fact, she even approached the ladies at Rising Daughters Baptist Church who were witnesses to the crime and showed them Perry's photograph (Greene, 2007). One of the women to whom Beaver showed the photo of Dennis Perry was Cora Fisher, who claimed when she saw his picture, she was rattled and stricken with fear, as this was the man she remembered from the church who had shot the Swains (Rush, 2015). Some researchers have also suggested Beaver showed the photo of Perry to the ladies at the church and claimed he was the father of her grandson who was also shown in the picture; however, Perry did not father a child with Beaver's daughter, and in fact, the child in the photo was Perry's little brother, according to Helen Umphrey, Perry's mother (Masee-Yost, 2007). When Bundy showed both Fisher and Williams a single photo of Perry, both women identified him as the man who burst in to the church on March 11, 1985, shot Harold and Thelma Swain, and left them for dead. Bundy went to Florida where he interviewed Perry, but Perry maintained he had lived and was working in the Atlanta area at the time, knew of Harold Swain but never met him, and did not even own a  handgun. Bundy nor any other investigator spoke with Perry for another two years. On January 13, 2000, Perry was arrested at his home after returning from work and charged with the murders of Harold and Thelma Swain (Rush, 2015).
     To many, this is where the mystery of the murders of Harold and Thelma Swain ended; however, the group who believe this grows smaller and smaller each time the case is discussed. Perry was put on trial in 2003 and convicted of the murder, and because he struck a plea deal for two life sentences to avoid the death penalty, he cannot appeal the decisions due to the deal. There are quite a few who believe Perry is innocent of the crimes, and one group seeking to prove he is innocent is the Georgia Innocence Project. The family of Dennis Perry, as well as amateur sleuths feel Donnie Barrentine could be more involved in the crime than investigators at the GBI and Camden County Sheriff's Department believe him to be, and in fact, they believe he is the man who shot the Swains. According to some writers, the murder was a tactic to get the attention of Harold Swain's son-in-law who was said to have owed a debt to Barrentine's cousin (Rush, 2015). Interestingly enough, Barrentine testified for the defense at the 2003 trial, but he maintained he knew nor had anything to do with the murders. An investigation in to his work records showed he reported to work on March 11th and March 13th but was mysteriously absent from work on March 12th, the day after the murder.
     Although the district attorney did not focus much attention on Barrentine, they did feel they investigated him thoroughly. Perry's defense attorneys presented a defense they felt surely would result in an acquittal based on the legal requirement of "beyond a shadow of a doubt" as the benchmark for convicting a defendant. However, the jury returned a guilty verdict.  Did they get it right? Was Dennis Perry the killer? There are some things that stick out about this case.

1. Why was Jane Beaver so adamant that Dennis Perry was the murderer? Did she have a vendetta against Perry? There was some bad blood between Perry and her family, particularly over his time dating her daughter. Why did she tell people Perry was the father of her grandchild? Did she taint the photo identification process with Williams and Fisher by showing them a single photo-that of Perry? Did Perry really tell Jane Beaver he tried to borrow money from Harold Swain only to be laughed at by Swain and that Perry planned to seek revenge on Swain by killing him using a racial epitaph for Swain? Did Perry ever use Harold Swain's name? From her description of the event, she said he only referred to the man as his grandfather's black neighbor (Harold and Thelma Swain, n.d).
2. The eyewitnesses could not agree on the description of the shooter. In fact, the eyewitnesses could not agree on whether or not the assailant was wearing glasses. Cora Fisher, who was a key witness for the prosecution kept changing her description of the assailant. At first, she said he had light, medium brown hair, then told investigators it was brownish or black and was curly before finally settling on yellowish or white. The jury was never presented with the contradictory testimony, only that three of the witnesses agreed he had blonde hair. The defense attorneys argued the eyewitness testimony suffered from cross-race effect where eyewitnesses have problems remembering descriptions of people who are not members of their own race-research which dates back to the early 1900s. Eyewitnesses have been more apt to remember descriptions of people of their own race. Also, only two of the eyewitnesses-Fisher and Williams-identified Perry as the shooter and they only did that after Jane Beaver showed them a photo of Perry and a period of 13 years had passed. The other eyewitnesses were not asked to identify Dennis Perry at the trial (Rush, 2015).
3. Why was so much evidence lost from the original investigation? Also, why did Sheriff Bill Smith agree to send the actual set of eyeglasses found at the scene off to the producers of Unsolved Mysteries for Robert Stack to use in the broadcast? Further, why did no one tightly supervise their return to the evidence file at the Camden County Sheriff's department? Apparently, Agent Gregory was not happy about the decision to do this. Also, what happened to the hairs found on those glasses, some of the buttons, parts of the telephone wire cut outside, the top of the telephone connection box and smudged mirror found in the vestibule?
4. Did Harold Swain know his assailant? The eyewitness testimony conflicted there too. Some witnesses said Harold acted as if he knew the assailant, where others said he acted as if he didn't. Also, Vandora Baker, one of the witnesses, claimed the assailant came down the aisle of the sanctuary, but all the others maintained he simply stuck his head through the door but remained in the vestibule (Sloan, from The Georgia Innocence Project, 2020).
5. The hairs on the glasses were from a Caucasian, but when they were tested for DNA, Perry's did not match the DNA from the hair, thus eliminating him as the provider of the hairs.
6. The eyeglasses found at the scene were designed to correct farsightedness. The GBI ordered an eye exam on Perry. He was found not to have farsightedness and in fact was found to have 20/20 vision. Research by the defense found that if Perry had farsightedness, he would have MUCH worse vision in each eye than 20/20; therefore, the glasses did not belong to Perry, or if they were his, they did not match his eye conditions and thus would have been problematic for him to wear (Dennis Perry, 2020). Logically, it could have been assumed that Perry could have worn the glasses as a disguise, but this would have impaired his vision, and he might not have been able to pull off a premeditated murder with impaired vision. There would have been a risk of misfiring or even making mistakes in a struggle with Swain resulting in getting tangled up and getting caught. There were too many risks with that. If a set of eyeglasses were going to be part of a disguise, why not simply use a pair of sunglasses or a pair of glasses with non-prescription lenses or no magnification at all? Or why not wear a mustache or fake beard? Why not wear a hat? I doubt Perry was using glasses to try to disguise himself if he were the assailant. It appears the person who owned the glasses needed them, and they even were modified to fit the assailant given the things investigators found on and about them.
7. Perry had an alibi. A Mr. Charlie Williamson drove Perry to work each day because Perry had no car in 1985. Williamson testified he took Perry to work the days in question and that he did not remember Perry not showing up for work around the time of the murders (Masee-Yost, 2007). In fact, investigators ruled out Perry after receiving the tip that Perry resembled the man in the drawings and was possibly the assailant because they deemed him to have a solid alibi-namely that he was hundreds of miles away working on his job (Dennis Perry, 2020).
8. What happened to the Pepsi bottles found in the parking lot? They were unable to do DNA tests on them because they were lost. What happened to them? Were they possibly used by the assailant(s) as he or they waited in the parking lot to make their move on the church and take out Harold Swain?
9. Detectives stated Dennis Perry "confessed" to the crime. Perry claims he was merely telling detectives what he thought might have happened. He felt that the murders were the result of an attempted robbery gone wrong and the assailant fled. However, regardless of what Perry said or intended to say, why was his "confession" not video taped or recorded? In fact, Masee-Yost (2007) posited no notes from the interview were ever made. Why? Perry contended the confession was coerced.
10. Why did the sketches made by the police artist based on the eyewitness accounts vary so much? The first four were indeed similar, but the final composite looked nothing like those four. Why was that the case?
11. The first four drawings made from the eyewitness accounts looked eerily similar to the transient in Kansas who robbed a church there in 1981. Was it possible that the man had come to Georgia on a crime spree? He was supposedly driving a car with a Florida license plate. This means he could have been in the area. Did he know Swain? Or had he been following Swain and knew he had money on him?
12. Why did two of Perry's acquaintances claim Perry used reading glasses that were similar to the ones found at the scene? Did he? Were those his glasses? Could they have been used for reading?
13. Was Perry indeed in Waverly visiting his grandparents who lived near Rising Daughters Baptist Church the day of the murders as claimed by Perry's girlfriend (Harold and Thelma Swain, n.d)?
14. Why did Perry claim to be at a party in Texas during the murders when there really was no party?
15. Why did Perry claim to have murdered the Swains but then claimed it to be an accident only later to recant that?
16. Was it known that Jane Beaver was seeking a substantial reward for her role in the arrest and conviction of Perry, and that she did receive $12,000.00 for her testimony at the trial (Perry vs. Upton, Write of Habeas Corpus, 2019).
17. Why did some eyewitnesses at the scene state the shooter had a mustache while others did not? Perry did have a mustache, but none of the composite drawings included one. The four composite drawings made before the final one all looked VERY similar to the transient from Kansas who robbed a church in 1981, and he did not have a mustache (Dennis Perry, 2020).

This case is quite interesting and has as many twists and turns as a bucket of snakes. The petition for writ of habeas corpus is quite informative. Any amateur sleuth researching this case should read it, as well as the trial transcript. The Georgia Innocence Project has taken up this case, and is now partnering with the producers of the podcast Undisclosed. The case is receiving a great deal of attention. I am not sure if Dennis Perry is completely innocent of the murders of Harold and Thelma Swain, but I am also not sure he is the man who committed the deeds. From the eyewitness testimony, the collection of evidence, the DNA tests, and the eye exam, I am led to believe Dennis Perry was not the man who wrestled with Swain and shot him and subsequently, his wife Thelma, in the vestibule of the church that night. Could he have been with the assailant? Possibly. Was he one of two people in the parking lot who drank Pepsi and discarded the bottles in the parking lot? Possibly. DNA testing, while emerging on the scene in 1985, was not something the average person knew about in 1985, particularly not the criminal elements of the world, so it is possible the assailants figured they could drink from the bottles and throw them down at the scene of the crime without fearing the bottles would reveal their identities as long as they wiped off the fingerprints. But what happened to those bottles? Modern DNA testing could be done on the bottles to see if they contained traces of saliva and if DNA could be traced to them. However, their disappearance prevents that.
This case is far from resolved in my mind. I certainly hope the case is reopened. I am not saying Perry was not involved at all, but I do not think he was the shooter. Therefore, his sentence is completely unjustified.

What are your thoughts?

References:
Dennis Perry. (2020). Georgia Innocence Project, Retrieved from https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/cases/active-cases/dennis-perry/

Greene, S. (2007). Key evidence goes missing in Georgia church murders. The Denver Post, Retrieved from https://injusticebusters.org/04/Perry_Dennis.shtml

Harold and Thelma Swain. (n.d.). Unsolved Mysteries Wiki, Retrieved from https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Harold_and_Thelma_Swain

Masee-Yost, T. (2007). A law students thesis on Dennis Perry's case. Free Dennis Perry, Retrieved from http://freedennisperry.blogspot.com/2007/10/law-students-thesis-on-dennis-perrys.html

Rush, J.S. (2015). Attorney seeks DNA testing in murder case. Tribune & Georgian, Retrieved from
https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015-3-19-PERRY-combined.pdf

   

What Happened to Christopher Thompkins?

Missing persons and abduction cases are quite perplexing, and they often confound authorities, terrorize families, and mystify sleuths. In Georgia, one of the strangest missing persons cases is that of Christopher Thompkins.  Chris disappeared from Ellerslie, Georgia-a small community in Harris County not far from Columbus on Hwy 27. Thompkins, who had gotten a job with a surveying company owned by a friend of his mother Ann, was working on Hwy 85 with a four man crew on Friday, January 25, 2002. The site on Hwy 85 where his crew was working was a wooded area. He left home that morning around 8:10 AM and rode to the site with the owner of the survey business. The morning went along without incident, and the four man team broke for lunch. After lunch, around 1:30, the four workers were walking along Hwy 85 near County Line Road and Warm Springs Road. The men were about fifty feet apart, and Chris was at the rear of the group close to the road. According to the men who were on the crew with Chris, this was the last time they saw him and in the last location. The next thing they knew, he was gone.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Chris was wearing a pair of navy blue pants, a plaid jacket with a hood, and a black skull cap. On his right arm there appears a tattoo of an ice cream cone with his name written vertically inside the cone. The top of the cone where the ice cream scoop would normally be is not an ice cream scoop but rather the head of a joker wearing a hat.

The spot where Chris was last seen was wooded, but there was a barbed wire fence between the road and private property that bordered the road itself. According to David Paulides (2011) in his book, Missing 411: Eastern United States, Chris' coworkers returned to the area to search and there they found one of the boots he had been wearing when he disappeared. It was lying next to the fence that bordered the road and the private property nearby, and strangely enough, there were coins lying near the boot. Also scattered about on the grass nearby were the tools that Chris had been using when he was last seen. The man who owned the business called Chris' mother, Ann, not long afterwards, and around 4:15 PM, they reported Chris' disappearance to the local sheriff's office; however, as is customary, local authorities do not classify a person as missing until s/he has been gone for over 24 hours. Once this time had passed, the local sheriff's department started conducting an official investigation where they found part of the cloth from Chris' blue pants on the barbed wire fence near the area where his coworkers had found his boot. In July, nearly five months after he disappeared, someone said to be the owner of the property on the other side of the barbed wire fence, found the other boot that Chris was wearing the day he disappeared. Interestingly enough, the owner of the survey company for whom Chris worked mentioned that he had been acting odd in the days leading up to the disappearance. On the other hand, Chris' mother said she has no recollection of him acting any differently or strange, and in fact, she mentioned that he was acting quite normal.

This disappearance has some baffling elements. Beyond the big question of what happened to Christopher Thompkins, there are a few things that should be asked.
1. Why were Chris' shoes removed from his feet?
2. If Chris had been determined to run away and disappear, why did he remove one shoe at the fence and one in the field a short ways off? In fact, why did he remove his shoes anyway if he fled on foot or even in a car?
3. Why were coins and tools that had been in his pockets or in his person found in the grass and near the area where he was last seen? If he decided to empty his pockets, why did he dispense with the coins? One would think he would keep money he had on him if he were going to disappear on his own, and one would definitely think if he were being robbed or abducted, the captor robber/captor would keep what money s/he found on Chris.
4. Since items that were in his pockets and on his person were found scattered at the scene of his disappearance, if someone had rifled through his pockets during an abduction, how could his coworkers, who were only about fifty feet away by their own admission not hear that, or more so, if someone snatched him where he stood and then riffled through his pockets, why was the scuffle and ordeal not heard by those coworkers? If someone took the time to accost Chris and then rifle through his pockets, wouldn't they have risked being seen by those coworkers or even someone passing by in a car? It is strange that someone would take that kind of risk. So if he were accosted and abducted on site and the abductors did not rifle through his pockets, why were his belongings on the ground nearby? Did he throw them down? If so, why?
5. Was Chris attacked by an animal? If so, why was there no blood found at the scene commensurate with what we know accompanies an animal attack? Also, why would his coworkers not have heard any screams or cries for help in the midst of an animal attack?

This case is quite strange! It was as if Chris Thompkins was snatched up without anyone noticing or hearing a thing. I say that it was as if he were snatched up because of the way part of the fabric from his pants was found in the barbed wire fence, as well as the fact that one of his shoes was found at the scene of the disappearance. When one takes in to consideration that his coworkers heard nor saw anything, it makes the disappearance even more mystifying. One of the saddest elements of this story is that his mother has been left with no answers whatsoever. A murder at least has some sense of closure in that the families know that their loved one is gone and cannot come back. A disappearance such as Chris Thompkins brings no sense of closure. His mother and loved ones are left to wonder where he is, if he is ever coming back or can, and what happened on that roadside that January day. Perhaps one day soon, we will have answers to these questions, and Chris' mother can have some sense of closure.

References
The Charley Project (2004). Christopher Carlton Thompkins. The Charley Project. Retrieved from:
http://charleyproject.org/case/christopher-carlton-thompkins.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations. (n.d.). Missing Persons: Christopher Thompkins. Georgia Bureau of Investigations. Retrieved from: https://gbi.georgia.gov/cases/missing-persons/christopher-thompkins.

Paulides, D. (2011). Missing 411: Eastern United States, Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace.

Happy New Year!

Greetings readers and fellow bloggers!
It has been almost two years since I have posted on this blog, but I plan to reengage and give a great deal more attention to it this coming year and beyond. Frankly, it has been about three years since I have been able to turn my attention to much else besides working my way through a doctoral program, and as of now, I am in the final term and about to defend my dissertation. What better time to reignite the fire that burns within when it comes to mysteries, true crime, and the 'just plain weird?' I hope that all of you are having a great start to the New Year. There are some interesting things happening now in terms of my book-The Atlanta Ripper. I may have neglected to post this, but a few years ago a production company from California purchased the rights to the book, and for the past year or so the owner has been working to get the book turned in to a mini-series or full-length film. While there has been some movement in that direction, Hollywood is its own universe, and like things in Washington D.C., progress is a slow moving giant there. I am quite patient, and if I receive updates from the production company, I will post them.
On another front, back in October 2019, The Atlanta History Center featured my book,and ME, at the first ever author event at The Georgia Beer Garden. This was a great venue, and we had about 50 people who turned out to hear me talk about the book and my thoughts on the murders. I am so grateful to The History Press, The Atlanta History Center, and The Georgia Beer Garden for collaborating on this and inviting me. The coolest part of the entire thing was that The Georgia Beer Garden sits right in the Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta-the ward where most of the Atlanta Ripper murders took place.
Keeping that momentum going, over the Christmas holidays, I was contacted by the creators of the Fall Line Podcast to participate in a series about The Atlanta Ripper that they are planning for April. In January, I will be doing an interview with Laura and Brooke-the hosts and producers-about the book and the murders. I had a great conversation with Laura on New Year's Eve, and I can say that I have found kindred spirits when it comes to mysteries and true crime. She and Brooke are as interested as I am in missing person cases, abductions, and other mysteries that baffle the minds of investigators in the Peach State. If you have not listened to their podcast, check them out at their website: www.thefalllinepodcast.com.

I do hope all of you are having a Happy 2020 so far, and I am actually going to be posting my first post of 2020 (other than this one, I suppose) right away. Please continue to follow, and if you have ideas or items you want to pass along, please feel free. My email is georgiaspooks@yahoo.com.

Jeff