Authorities said it was not clear what prompted the call from Whited, who was jailed for the killing with bail set at $15,000. var zoneid = '30'; All three of the victims worked in the microfilm industry. Mitchell says hes seen a steady increase in murders since he started working in law enforcement in the Lowcountry in 2005, adding theyve just started to see a decrease this year. I honestly believe the trauma exacerbated my mother's Alzheimer's, and it certainly broke all of our hearts," Kubiszyn said. The City-Data.com crime index weighs serious crimes and violent crimes more heavily. Despite Bland's death, and McPherson's swift arrest on first-degree kidnapping charges, the searches for Carrie continued by hundreds, if not thousands. The case file on Brown remains what it is; thick, unsolved and no justice at least for now. All of these clues would be wasted during the initial investigation, which is blamed by contemporary law enforcement for failing to follow up on solid leads and outright ignoring pieces of evidence. The show includes interrogation footage of Jones from Jan. 19, 2005. KANSAS: In 1970, 12-year-old Kelly Lynn Albright went missing and was found dead in a field in Reno County. "And when we woke up the next morning, he was dead. Under the FBI's direction, Lawson wore a directional beeper to let agents follow him as he made the drop. I remember someone saying he could kill himself.". The federal agents said as soon as they identified Bland's voice, they obtained a local search warrant and carried out a search of the home, where they recovered part of the ransom money. The woman who found Dorothy Harriss body described seeing the cases only suspecta strange young male described as wearing a long, dark jacket (maybe a Western duster) and a black hat that may have been a top hat or fedora and carrying some kind of object in his hands. Cold Case e-mail: [email protected]. By all appearances, the Burger Chef murders probably came as the result of a botched robbery. Daniel immediately informed the police of his gruesome discovery. My sister had a minor role in this. Jump to a detailed profile, search site with google or try advanced search. I can remember one of the feds saying, 'Look, he had marijuana in the house. A month later, an anonymous tip led searchers to Lake Tuscaloosa near the Alabama 69 bridge about 10 miles north of Northport. "I have four sisters-in-law and I'm close with them, but missing a sister is so difficult. What happens when it comes around to your house? Even we have a limit that you can push us to before we stand up and cry foul.". In a sick twist of fate, police learned early on that the witness who found the first body may have arrived at the scene barely minutes after the murders. Jones, a drifter from Oklahoma, was convicted in Mobile County for the Sept. 2004 murder of 45-year-old Lisa Marie Nichols. A 3-D-enhanced version of this sketch was released in February 2018. "Of course it bothered me. Keddie, California, is an out-of-the-way kind of place. As the couple left for the hospital, a gunman appeared at their vehicle. She had recently graduated from the University of Alabama law school. The potential suspect was described to then-Homicide Unit Commander Capt. He told me to get on the ground on my stomach. "It devastated my parents. Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. Jones raped and shot Nichols, then set fire to Nichols Turnerville area home. If you're a print subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one. Netflixs reboot of the classic Unsolved Mysteries, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. It wasn't long before the kidnapper -- later identified as 49-year-old Jerry Bland, a former strip mine operator -- contacted Lawson and demanded a $300,000 ransom for Carrie's safe return. "He has not mentioned anything about this other matter to me," Belser said. In the week that followed, local media also reported that a handgun was recovered in the parking lot of the bar. Whats going on this weekend in Savannah? Karen McPherson, left, is serving a life sentence in the 1991 disappearance of Walker County lawyer Carrie Lawson, whose body has never been found. Thats always been really hard for me to swallow, that anyone could get to know Carrie and then turn her over to her executioner., Years ago, McPherson agreed to meet with Lawsons father, who has since died, and give details about the crime in return for the family not protesting parole. On November 19, police went to the trailer of 29-year-old Robert Keith Dardeen, who had failed to show up for work at the Rend Lake Water Conservancy District. The first man suspected was Ted Uland, the owner of Records Security. The next and final discovery occurred on November 19, when all four bodies were found in a rural part of Johnson County. By definition, he is a serial killer.. Fear and not wanting to get involved are perhaps the primary reasons why the murders remain a mystery. Sadly, Senac died in 1999 due to complications from the shooting. Carrie, the daughter of a Tennessee millionaire, had also just graduated from UA's law school. Jones was also implicated in the deaths of Amanda Greenwell, 16, of Douglasville, Ga. and Katherine Collins, 45, a New Orleans sex worker. However, the true motives behind these horrid crimes may never be known, given their unsolved character. As of April 1, there were around 19 reported murders in Alabama in 2021. All Rights Reserved. On November 18, 1978, an off-duty employee of the Burger Chef, a local fast food joint in Speedway, Indiana, found the restaurants back door wide open. In 2019, there were 39 murders in Montgomery County, Alabama. Then he had to call Carrie's parents, David and Harriett Smith, in Tennessee. Jeremy Bryan Jones is shown Thursday, Dec. 1, 2005 during the sentencing phase of his capital murder trial in Mobile, Ala.. Judge Charles Graddick gave him the death sentence. The first discovery was a vehicle belonging to one of the abducted four. "He'd never met her, but he loved her.". The Smith family also has long thought there were more than Bland and McPherson involved, as does McPherson's family. [10] Keiths body would not be found until the next day. It was early that Tuesday morning -- about 4:30 a.m. -- that agents reported hearing a single gunshot inside Bland's home. The whole Jerry Bland suicide is very suspicious, and it's very possible somebody else killed him. The victims hands were bound, and their throats had been so deeply slit that they had all nearly been decapitated. if (!document.MAX_used) document.MAX_used = ','; The murder of the 38-year-old mother is profiled in an episode of Netflixs reboot of the classic Unsolved Mysteries that points to Alabama Death Row inmate Jeremy Bryan Jones as a possible suspect. They were able to tentatively identify him by his voice after releasing audiotapes of his ransom demands. "The whole thing was poorly handled," Kubiszyn said. Polygraph tests backed his confessions to several murders, the AJC reported in 2005. My uncle lived in Nebraska. Lackey was sentenced to death on April 3, 2008, and was later executed in Alabama by lethal injection on July 25, 2013. He works as a freelance writer and has been published in The Weekly Standard, The Atlantic, Listverse, and other publications. Email all inquiries to me at [email protected]. Investigators found that Glenna, John, and Dana had been bound with white medical tape and appliance wire, and all three had suffered stab wounds along with being bludgeoned and strangled. (Photo courtesy of McPherson's family). These cases stem from various situations, and circumstances, but all have one thing in common: people's loved ones have yet to be found. Keiths wife, 30-year-old Ruby Elaine Dardeen, was found dead alongside the couples three-year-old son Peter. McPherson was the "nurse" who made the call, and she dropped Bland off at the Lawson home to carry out the kidnapping. (Ron Colquitt). Jones, facing execution in Alabama since 2005, told the AJC that same year that he had never killed anyone and would one day be free. Other clues at the crime scene included the position of the bodies. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Three of the bodies were stacked together, and at least one of the girls had been raped. Cliff and Jimmie were dispatched with the .22, while Debbie was also shot but was likely killed by being drowned in the familys bathtub. And, of course, there were people who thought Lawson was somehow involved in Carrie's abduction. Uland had taken out a life insurance policy on both Gierse and Hinson worth $150,000. Because his keys were with the Explorer, he had to kick in the back door to get inside his home and call 911. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. On November 6, 2001, at approximately 11:00 AM, a woman arrived for an appointment at the Hair Gallery, located in Florence, Montana. With that in mind, Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit (VCU) is once again reminding the public that Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the seemingly unprovoked killing. His corpse, which was found in a nearby field, showed that Keith had been shot three times. 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Shaquille Granta football star at the school, somebody killed him, said Detective Charles Mitchell with the Hardeeville Police Department. People who may have evidence or clues about cold case sexual assaults and murders are encouraged to call or email the Attorney General's Office and share this information. "Most of those people didn't know us at all," he said. In response to the murders of 17-year-old Ruth Shelton, 20-year-old Jayne Friedt, 16-year-old Mark Flemmonds, and 16-year-old Daniel Roy Davis, Burger Chef offered the public a $25,000 reward for any clues that could lead to an arrest. Several people were inside the bowling alley, including three adults and four children. There were several extortion attempts on the Lawson family, one that led to a 15-year prison sentence for the convict. The murders shocked the area and although the . Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. [3] The unidentified killer used duct tape to tie up his victims before shooting them execution-style. Its not quite as prevalent in the county with two unsolved cases on the books. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Keddie, however, became infamous on the night of April 11, 1981. November 20, 2020 / 6:33 AM There is talk among both departments of forming a special cold case unit. With no football fans or tourists in town, the cool but clear fall weekend had been a relatively uneventful one for Tuscaloosa. ", In that same interview, Frank Evans, a supervisory special agent, said, "It is so patently inaccurate, we felt an obligation to say wait a minute. Given the absolute horror of the crime scene, locals began to blame Satanists for the crime. She had taken the bar exam but disappeared never knowing she had passed. document.write ("?zoneid="+zoneid+"&block=1&blockcampaign=1"); There are families that need answers, and your information may be the key to solving these cases. Do you see the house across the street?' BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The days without an arrest turned into months and then . Keith (his preferred name) was not one to skip work, so his supervisor first called Keiths parents. If you know something, SAY something. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Other theories about the case include a scorned, jealous husband or boyfriend (all three men had an ongoing bet about who could sleep with the most women) and the local mob. Furthermore, Florida police officers learned through their investigation that the Walkers were interested in purchasing a Chevy Bel Air prior to the massacre. The man who killed Carrie himself is dead, Frank Lancaster, McPhersons brother and the oldest of the five Lancaster children said in 2016. document.write ("&loc=" + escape(window.location)); They were saying something about exculpatory evidence that needed to be cleared up. Thats really what makes me saddest about the whole thing., Karen McPherson, now 60, has been jailed since she pleaded guilty in November 1991. This booking photo provided by police in Decatur, Ala., shows Johnny Dwight Whited. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. document.write ("'><\/scr"+"ipt>"); Both would be murdered. Still, Bland didn't know that and called off the drop. Kubiszyn said Carrie was the bright light in their family. Not only does this list deal with some of the worst mass murders in American history, but each remains unsolved to this day. This group was created to bring attention to the high number of people missing, suspicious deaths and unsolved murders in Walker County Alabama (Neighboring counties). Indeed, believe it or not, American citizens are currently living in a time of unprecedented peace.[1]. They rushed to the car, and it began. In 1996, investigators hired a construction crew to pump out a pool at a closed surface mine in Tuscaloosa County. 1 song on U.S. charts the night of Saturday, Oct. 12, 1996, when a Gene Stallings-led Crimson Tide football team won a road game 24-19 over North Carolina State in Raleigh to move to 6-0. He flew his plane down, and he actually picked me up in Cincinnati. For a while, Hinson and Gierse had worked for Records Security, a company based in Jasper, Indiana. Higher means more crime, U.S. average is 270.6. But in the early morning hours of Oct. 13, a gunshot split the quiet night outside of a now-closed Tuscaloosa bar and left a young man bleeding on the pavement with a bullet in his head. Making an arrest in these cases, helps families, it gives them some kind of closure, but it will never completely heal, Mitchell said. TUSCALOOSA, AL The highly-publicized trial of football star and accused murderer O.J. On November 18, 1978, an off-duty employee of the Burger Chef, a local fast food joint in Speedway, Indiana, found the restaurant's back door wide open. John Sharp was found face-up and with bloody hands near the front door.