AL AL - J.B. Beasley, 17, & Tracie Hawlett, 17, Ozark, 31 July 1999 #1

[Veidt]

I'm new to this case so if I say something obviously wrong please tell me, also, this is all JMO.

Also...ladies...when you were 17 what is the one thing that would have gotten you to stop if you were driving around? A good looking guy in a nice car.....think about it...gives a bit more credibilty to the prominent son rumor...

I think that's making A LOT of assumptions. I know that when I was 17 I was really careful and if I had a car back then I wouldn't have stopped for anyone/anything. I'm not saying that they were just like me in this - I'm just trying to say that everybody is different.

I also don't think the girls pretended to be lost to extend the night out. Think about it, they seem to have gone back and forth while they were out and even stopped to ask people for directions. If they were faking being lost the most they would have done would have been to call their parents. Plus why else wouldn't they be at the party? Don't forget these were the 90s, IIRC many phones at this time did not have a screen, so if they weren't truly lost they would have just called their parents from the party.

Finally, I definitely don't think the semen came from consensual sexual activity. In part because I think that teenagers trying to sneak around would have just cleaned it up to avoid getting caught accidentally plus it's just a gut feeling I get.

As to the scenarios, I wonder why there would be mud and briars on them. They would have to have gotten out of the car at some point, probably in a more rural area. Does anyone know what happened to the soil samples? Were they ever matched with any places? (What about the bullet shells?) It's important to remember, too, that areas that are paved and have houses on them nowadays aren't ruled out necessarily if in the 90s they hadn't been built on.

I agree with whoever said they were wondering about the seat's distance from the wheel. That could give us an idea of the size of the person who last sat there, and establish whether the girls drove it over to that street. Something that I find confusing - I initially thought that the car was driven to the spot where it was found by the murderer, which would explain the location being slightly strange and also the lack of keys which he could have used to drive and then kept as a token. BUT I also wonder, wouldn't this imply fingerprints on the wheel? If he was wearing gloves to drive he would have put them on before rather than leaving the palm print. Driving gloves, perhaps?

Regarding what would have made them stop - I agree that it was probably someone posing as a police office/a police officer, or someone pretending to be injured. This sounds much more likely. If their families were right in saying they would only have stopped for the police and also in general, this to me explains why they would have stopped. If they saw a police light they would have had no reason to think it was suspicious. Likewise, it's not completely outlandish to me that someone would be lurking, waiting for female drivers who were alone or in pairs to drive up, and then pretending to be injured or in need of help. Other killers have used ways of gaining sympathy to lure in their victims.

The rolled down window doesn't immediately say policeman/policeman impersonator to me; it could have been warm enough to have a window open OR they could have stopped again to get directions or to speak to the injured person. Then he points a gun at one of them, and threatens to kill them if they don't get out of the car (thus explaining why there were no signs of great struggle).

As a final thought - I wonder if maybe the mud could have been related or not. If it was, maybe whoever did it had to lure them into a patch of vegetation, e.g. crying out for help if that was possible without attracting attention. But they could have gotten it earlier, if they at some point stopped elsewhere to ask for directions before they were last seen.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Just a quick note of the evidence that no-one has yet mentioned. The girls pants were wet/damp up to the knee. Scenario being that they may have walked (willingly or un-willingly) through some tall grass, and that there was mud on the bottom of their shoes.

IMO/speculative as it may be, I see a sick killer on our hands. But the thing is..killers like this don't just cut and run. They do kill again. I'd say that by as amature as it was it was his first and there were more after.
JMHO of what happened that night. Also a profile of sorts.

The killer marches the girls out into a grassy area and forces one to take her clothes off, while holding the other hostage. (Maybe discharging his weapon to let them know he's serious) He takes his pants down because he's planning on raping them. He then trades positions, takes the unclothed girl hostage and deposits semen on her. This makes him angry. That he did this before completing the task. This guy is sick. It actually turns him on to have control, and he blew it.
What happens?
Did the girls scoff at him? Did they say something to anger him? Or does he just take it out on the girls because he was incompetent? Doesn't matter.
Theory 2.
How does he get them back to the car?
Can he shoot and carry them, each one, that far of a distance?
Did he make them walk back, make them get into the trunk of the car?<This sounds more like our guy. He makes them walk back and get into the trunk. He wont end their suffering yet. He drives the car back where he'd last seen them, maybe where his car isn't too far away. He opens the trunk and does the deed. Walking away without a scratch.

The soldier theory is a good one. I'd actually stick with that.
He'd be younger with daddy issues. But no older than mid 20s (Father also with prior military experience) And the kid is just dying to dominate. Slim build, probably nerdy. Not an average looking guy.
Older or only Sibling.

- 9 mil hand gun is also the standard issued handgun for the Military.( perp could be familiar with the weapon as to why he used a 9mil)

- ( bolded ) How about the perps education level?...

 

[nattyh]

http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=41418
According to some articles I read, the military keeps DNA samples of soldiers. I am not sure this eliminates military as suspects unless the DNA from the crime was compared with the military database. Moo! I don't know anything about this I was just putting it out there since it was brought up.

 

[LucyOso]

In 1999 as someone mentioned, there was limited technology so no GPS, etc. I can easily remember being a teenage driver and how disorienting it is at night to drive especially in unfamiliar areas. Even landmarks in familiar areas look strange. Couple driving with night to a novice with the anxiety about arriving home late and teens will start second guessing themselves into a panic state. It is very possible they drove quite a bit, could not recognize where they were, turned around and essentially drove through a lot of gas "psyching" themselves out. Did they try to turn around somewhere and get stuck. Did they accidentally trespass (in the car) on someone's property? Did they pull off onto a road seeing house lights or lights to ask for help? Did they pull of a road to go pee (they had been in the car a long time) in a muddy area? I think the crime scene could be any radius of how many miles per gallon the girls got from where the car was found and how much gas is used. Teenagers notoriously make impulsive and bad decisions and it does escalate especially in fear and panic. I can think of the creeper hitchhiker stories, the hook in the door, etc that in wooded areas create panic in teen drivers at night...If they sensed they were being followed, say by the white truck, they could have made easy prey for someone with profiling skills in terms of getting them to pull off into an isolated area without damaging/crashing into their car.

*GRAPHIC* I agree with the profiles for who could have done this. The military base being close by is a huge possibility. There are plenty of IK's in the world. When it comes to the semen, I have ideas. First, if this was not the first time the perp did something like this, he would have created a fantasy in his head. If this fantasy revolved around rejection from women or seeking power in abusive/dominating relationships over women it is often expressed in terms of sexual fantasy. The perp had his ideas of what he wanted to "do" and most likely it was very detailed and lasted for many hours in his head. When he tried to "act out" his fantasy most likely involved forced oral sex to "start" the fantasy. He forced one girl, JB, to remove her clothes and to perform it, and being a young male (notorious for premature ejaculation and due to the excitement of the situation) pulls out to stop the orgasm, can't, and ejaculates on her. This could escalate his rage and embarrassment, especially if he could not achieve another erection. Also being a young male, his first response to this is to lash out at those he perceives is humiliating him or mocking him (emasculating) and he executes the girls coldly. Shooting JB in the check could represent the failed sex act. If this perp evolved from this killing he would eventually get better at his crimes and may even find more pleasure in the execution style killings instead of the sexual assault part like IK did. If one girl was killed in the trunk and the other placed into the trunk and the killings happened at another location, it is not unreasonable for someone to drop the car and head back through the woods undetected to their own vehicle. I guess it would be interesting to know, if possible, who was killed first. Was Tracie placed in the truck, then killed after JB?

I think focusing on locals is an issue, because non-locals who are predators and in an area even for 6 weeks or up to 2 years for training, will devote their time and energy into mapping out a location for their next crime. The key, if it was someone from base, is to identify people who had a preoccupation in their off hours on base with hiking, cross country running, scenics walks, etc. and the "outdoor enthusiast" who didn't participate in the typical base shenanigans of drinking, partying, and bar hopping, etc. You all have some really good points and I think the search should involve more then the local suspects.

:twocents: Ideas?

 

[LucyOso]

http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=41418
According to some articles I read, the military keeps DNA samples of soldiers. I am not sure this eliminates military as suspects unless the DNA from the crime was compared with the military database. Moo! I don't know anything about this I was just putting it out there since it was brought up.

This is a great point. I was reading that the DNA was originally used to serve for identifying remains in combat. In 1998 about 2/3's of military members had DNA stored. In 1998-1999 etc, the use of the DNA was so restricted it could only be used by the DoD for ID with physical remains. In 2002-2003 they changed the use to include military court-marshalled offenses. However, I am not certain if the DNA can legally be used for civilian crimes or what not as it is not gathered from the military members for cataloging due to criminal history. I think it is a violation of many laws in our country to do so. Great question. Anyone else know about this?

 

[Veidt]

<snip>
:twocents: Ideas?

I snipped your post because I'm replying to all of it and my post would be gigantic.

You know, I think that the girls stopping somewhere to pee might be a good theory about why they had mud on their clothes. I don't know if the mud is necessarily from the crime scene or just somewhere else they stopped at that night while driving around. I also thought - maybe the girls stop somewhere for whatever reason, the perpetrator tries to catch them, they run into an area with more vegetation before they are caught. However, wouldn't this mean signs of struggle? I think the lack for the most part of such signs was probably because he initially approached them in a friendly manner before pointing a gun at them. I'm assuming that the signs of struggle referred both to the car and the girls, though, so correct me if I'm wrong.

(GRAPHIC)
I agree, I think it was someone who had fantasized about this before and who likely had control issues about women (because of an ex, mother,...). I don't agree with the daddy issues part - I don't see how that factors in so much, it sounds like the type of crime that is more motivated by resentment against a woman in the perpetrator's life than a man. The reason why I think he thought about it often is, it seems like some thing must have required some control and planning (possibly dropping the car off somewhere else, keeping the girls from fighting a lot, etc.) However, the fact that there ARE some rather sloppy things about this such as leaving behind his DNA* and a palm print make me think that he hadn't seriously planned out every detail. I think he may have found the opportunity or been trying his luck at spotting female drivers and making them stop, but that he hadn't really thought up the more practical aspects. I don't know if I agree with the scenario where he forces her to perform oral sex - in my head, I just pictured that he killed them and it was the act of killing them or scaring them that sexually aroused him, not rape. I think both seem possible though.

To answer your question, DD's case file on the first page says that Hawlett was the first in the truck, I assume that she was killed first too.

Ok, here's another one - in addition to soldiers, what about someone who worked at a base? The gun could have been stolen if it's in fact a military one. However it'd be helpful to know if non-soldier workers contributed DNA (probably not if as LucyOso says, its primary purpose back then was identification in combat) and if nowadays military DNA databases are ever cross checked with criminal ones.

 

[danzn16]

Did the police end up determining where they were murdered? I saw in the posts before that a woman heard gunshots and screams and police found a 9mm casing but hadn't determined if it was used in the murder or the locations site. That was years ago, does anyone know if this was the place?

DNA and a palm print. Does Alabama obtain DNA from all criminals in jail? I can't believe that after this long with that much evidence that they have not found the perp.

 

[bearx]

Thank you for continuing to detail the area for us, KR. It's so helpful to have input from a sharp-eyed local.



You mentioned that lots of soldiers come and go on TDY, and in an earlier post you said, "Ft Rucker has a lot of TDY personnel so it's possible that the killer was in and out of the area rather quickly." I'm curious as to just how quickly this would have been. Long enough for someone to get to know Ozark well enough to have been able to pull off this crime without being seen or caught?

I do not have much of anything to add to the discussion, but as a military wife, my husband has been TDY for 3 days, 21 days, 30 days, 5 months, and 10 months. Even across the country he takes his own car if it's longer than 30 days. It is absolutely possible to be around long enough to know the area well on a TDY. In fact, hubby has been gone since last August on a TDY and it's not over yet :sigh:

 

[bearx]

Oh, I might be able to help if you start narrowing down the TDY angle. If someone went TDY to that base, then in 99% of TDY cases, that means that base did NOT have people with that particular job field there. In that type of situation, only a handful of bases have the MOS/AFSC/etc, and those people go TDY to the other bases to handle the needs there, rather than having a squadron stationed AT that base. I hope that makes sense. My husband has obviously been on many TDYs and in every case except for training it was because there was not a squadron at that base with his AFSC, but someone with his AFSC was needed. Training is also somewhat base specific in a lot of cases. My husband went TDY to a particular base that had computer warfare training. As far as I know that is the only base that offers it. He then went TDY to a different base for "aggressive" computer warfare training (vs defensive which is elsewhere).

So, I'd look into what squadrons Ft. Rucker did not have at the time of the killings and see what Army bases DID. Or if Ft. Rucker offered any particular training that would cause a TDY.

I'm not sure if that is any help to you, but TDYs are generally for a very specific reason, in my experience.

 

[smm31822]

Just a thought on the white truck. Do we know if there any distingishible add ons to the truck. I grew up not far from Ozark and just about everyone I knew had customized their truck in so know fome way. This could ne a good way for sure to know this was no local boy.


MOO

 

[momof7]

What an awful thing. I feel so badly for their families that there has been no closure of the case.

Oddly enough, my ex was in Helicopter Pilot school there at that time. He graduated in early Aug. Dothan being so close to the base, it was the first thing I thought of. So military seems so likely. The first school he went to was 12 weeks. Then he was home for about a month and then the next school was about 18 months. They are in and out.

I will agree with others and say that its quite possible they were flagged down in some way. Maybe they stopped by the side of the road to go to the bathroom. I remember many nights out with my friends as a teen and there were many nights someone had to go and we had to get home. Regardless had someone in that white truck followed them it would have been an easy opportunity to overpower them. But the scenario seems so unlikely if there was only one person. Unless they got out together.

I hope they are able to connect something to someone soon.

Kelly

 

[DimeDetective]

Just a thought on the white truck. Do we know if there any distingishible add ons to the truck. I grew up not far from Ozark and just about everyone I knew had customized their truck in so know fome way. This could ne a good way for sure to know this was no local boy.

The most detailed description we have of the truck appears in the Chronology of Events posted by LR1 (9/17/00 entry):

Police Chief Tony Spivey said that the white truck in the video at the Big/Little store is believed to be a 80's model Nissan or Toyota with oversized tires or four wheel drive.

ETA: Though the truck is frequently referred to as being white, the CoE notes (8/31/99 entry) that when LE released the Big/Little Store surveillance image, it was described as being "a white, gray, tan, or beige pickup truck." Additionally, some MSM reports refer to the truck as being "white or light-colored."

 

[pinkie60]

it's so sad what happened to these girls. i heard about it for the first time yesterday on the radio show. i'm from the midwest not at all familiar with the roads and places mentioned. however ms hawlett had finished a shift at the menswear dept at jcpenney that evening, could someone have followed her from there? was there a customer who was stalking her or intimidating her in anyway? i hope this case is solved someday.

 

[Martin L]

What jumped out to me was one of the girls was in dance and the other a cheerleader i belive,,could there be someone in ozark who was in dance or cheer and was beat in a compitition by one of the girls,,was spotted in town by the girls boyfriend,,brother or father and sought revenge that got out of hand

 

[DimeDetective]

http://web.archive.org/web/20040409090629/http://www.wiregrass.com/ozark/chronology.html

LR1, thank you so much for sharing this very valuable link.

I'll post all my notes on this Chronology of Events, but first I want to focus on what I think is the most important information contained in the CoE:

The Big/Little Store:
Photo, Details, Timeline & Questions

Details

• [The girls were] last seen at the [Big/Little] convenience store on East Broad Street by the railroad tracks near Carroll High School. They were last seen at this location by two eyewitnesses [Merritt and daughter] who gave the girls directions to U.S. 231 and who overheard the other girl [Tracie] on the phone say, "Hey Mom." It was about 11:30 p.m. when the two witnesses left the location when they felt the girls had made contact with their family and it was safe to leave them. (CoE 8/4/99)
  
  
• Ozark police released a key piece of evidence in the month old investigation of the murder of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett. The piece of evidence is a partial picture of a white, gray, tan, or beige pickup truck that was parked in front of the Big/Little Store where the girls stopped to use the pay phone. The truck was parked at the store between 11:30 p.m. and 12:00 midnight on the night of July 31, 1999. Police feel that the owner or driver of the truck may be a witness that hasn't come forward and they are asking the public for help in identifying the owner of the truck. The picture is only a partial picture of the vehicle, so the make and model of the vehicle aren't clear. Police have been parking a variety of pickup trucks at the store and taking pictures of them to see if it would clear up the identity of the make and model. So far they haven't found a match. Yesterday afternoon at around 5:00 p.m., the parking lot of the store was filled with investigators and police vehicles working at the scene. (CoE 8/31/99)
  
  
• Police are still looking for another possible witness who may have seen something at the Big/Little Store on the night of the murders. The security tape taken on the night of murders shows a light colored truck leaving the store just before the Mazda, which the two girls were in, left the store. (CoE 12/12/99)
  
  
• Two women, Marilyn Merritt and her daughter, gave directions to J.B. and Tracie at the Big/Little Store. They added that after they gave the girls the directions, [Merritt and daughter] left the store heading west toward downtown Ozark and the direction to 231, and the girls left right behind them. [Merritt and daughter] didn't notice what happened to the girls after they left the store. The white truck that was parked at the gas pumps at the Big/Little Store left the parking lot before the girls did. They would like to talk to the driver to find out if they noticed anything unusual. (CoE 8/27/00)
  
  
• Police Chief Tony Spivey said that the white truck in the video at the Big/Little Store is believed to be a 80's model Nissan or Toyota with oversized tires or four wheel drive. (CoE 9/17/00)

Timeline (According to CoE)

• The white truck is parked at the store between 11:30 p.m. and 12:00 midnight on the night of July 31, 1999.
  
  
• Merritt and daughter give J.B. directions to U.S. 231 while Tracie calls her mother.
  
  
• Upon giving directions to J.B. and hearing Tracie say, ""Hey Mom," Merritt and daughter feel it is safe to leave the girls, as Tracie has made contact with family.
  
  
• Merritt and daughter leave the store, heading west toward 231.
  
  
• J.B. and Tracie leave right behind Merritt and daughter.
  
  
• The security tape shows the white truck leaving the store just before the Mazda — J.B. and Tracie — left the store.
  
  
• Merritt and daughter don't notice what happens to J.B. and Tracie after they leave the store.

Questions

1. Was the white truck already parked at the Big/Little Store when J.B. & Tracie and Marilyn Merritt & daughter arrived? Who was there first? Were J.B. and Tracie followed there by the white truck? Aren't these questions that could've been answered to some degree by Merritt and daughter?

2. What was the white truck doing at the Big/Little Store? The store was closed, no gas purchase was made, and no one was seen exiting the truck at any time. If the white truck has nothing to do with the murders, isn't it some coincidence that it sat there idling during the time J.B. & Tracie and Merritt & daughter were there talking, and then left at the same time as the other two vehicles?

3. Merritt and daughter left the store first, heading west. J.B. and Tracie were also heading west, so they would've been following right behind Merritt and daughter. When the white truck left (after Merritt and daughter but before J.B. and Tracie), which direction did it go? If the white truck was also traveling west, then we have:

• VEHICLE #1: Merritt and Daughter, followed closely by
• VEHICLE #2: The White Truck, followed closely by
• VEHICLE #3: J.B. and Tracie

In your mind, if the white truck left the Big/Little Store and headed east, does this reduce the chances that the white truck had anything to do with the murders?

4. Clearly the white truck was at the Big/Little Store at the same time as Merritt & daughter and J.B. & Tracie. Surely Merritt and daughter must've mentioned this to LE. So why, then, has it never been reported that witnesses observed a white pickup truck parked at the gas pumps during this key time? MSM articles only reference the white pickup truck being spotted by the surveillance camera. LE has to rely on this partial view of the truck from inside the Big/Little Store instead of eyewitness testimony from outside the store. Why?

5. What made Merritt and daughter feel it was okay to leave J.B. and Tracie when the white truck was parked at the gas pumps? The suspicious white truck was a potential immediate threat to the girls and had every advantage compared to Tracie's mother on the other end of the phone as potential protector.

6. Were Marilyn Merritt and her daughter the original intended victims?

7. What does the surveillance photo tell us?

8. If the occupant(s) of the white truck is NOT responsible for the murders, why haven't they come forward? An obvious reason would be fear of being charged with a crime they did not commit, but knowing they would be cleared through DNA testing and print comparison, why not come forward? This would help LE rule out the white truck as a vehicle of interest and direct their energy toward the real killer(s).

9. Is it possible the occupant(s) of the white truck overheard Merritt giving J.B. directions, left the store going in a different direction than the other two vehicles, and caught up with/cut off J.B. and Tracie, perhaps as they were heading south on 123?

10. At what point did Merritt and daughter turn off/leave the route taken by J.B. and Tracie?

 

[LR1]

I like the input from everybody, its good to see this thread get to page 3 at least.
There's so much about this case that has not been definitively determined that makes it hard to try to put all the pieces together. For instance the DNA, very early on they were saying the girls weren't sexually assaulted. Then many weeks later, months according to some reports they found the DNA on JB which I think was unexpected by the investigators. By the way the reports that say it was found on her clothes and skin. How do they find it on her skin so many weeks/months later? I've read where they compared over 70 sets of DNA trying to find a match, so that tells me their best guess is that it is related but to this day I'm not entirely convinced that it is.

The white truck is another possible red herring. It is said that the WT left the store just before the girls did. I've also read where the witnesses that gave directions saw the girls pull away from the store behind them. but I haven't read whether or not the witnesses saw the truck but given that timeline they almost had to. So did this guy(s) go on to commit this crime after being seen by the witnesses not to mention leave the car with the bodies in it only a half mile away from the last place both the girls and the WT was seen by the witnesses? The truck left the store before the girls did from what I've read but of course that doesn't mean it couldn't have waited on them down the road but not too far from the store and somehow gained control of the girls. You also have the fact that the owner if local hasn't come forward to clear it all up. If it is involved its likely only one person. If two were involved I cant see them bringing the car back to where it was found its more likely they would have left it somewhere other than near the middle of town.

My gut feeling fwiw is that they didn't stumble into Ozark by chance and that they went there for a reason. According to mapquest its a 35 minute drive from headland to Ozark via 134 to midland city then up 231 to Ozark. they were at the bp in headland at 10:30 then were seen at the b/l store in Ozark shortly after 11:30. I cant see where they had time to even get lost. I also think its likely the girls had been in the area before perhaps attending football games at the school that is right beside the store.
Half way between midland city and Ozark is county rd. 30 that road leads to hwy 27 which takes you the back way into Ozark and directly to the b/l store. did the buses they might have traveled on to the games take this route and thus making them familiar with it? Maybe they were looking to get back on 231 to go further north of Ozark. From what I've read Police were not only looking to question people who attended the party off of hwy 95 but also a party in Ariton was mentioned, which is about ten miles north of Ozark.
So nearly 14 years into this case I still have more questions than answers but as long as there's questions this also means there's still interest and one day maybe someone will come along with the answers.

It took me awhile to compile this mess of a post and I see DD beat me to the punch and has many of the same questions that I do. good job DD you lay it out so much better and no doubt quicker than I can.

 

[LR1]

Did the police end up determining where they were murdered? I saw in the posts before that a woman heard gunshots and screams and police found a 9mm casing but hadn't determined if it was used in the murder or the locations site. That was years ago, does anyone know if this was the place?

DNA and a palm print. Does Alabama obtain DNA from all criminals in jail? I can't believe that after this long with that much evidence that they have not found the perp.

To my knowledge they haven't determined the scene of the crime. I think it was nearly eight months after the murders when the lady came forward.

 

[Veidt]

DimeDetective and LR1, here's what I think about the white truck.

I do think it's odd that Merritt and her daughter didn't notice the truck at all and it's never mentioned that they reported seeing it. The only explanation I can hazard is that maybe they saw it without even thinking about it and just assumed it belonged to someone who left it parked there or worked at the store. From what I understand, Merritt and her daughter had been in the store or at least had thought it was open, so maybe they had reason to assume that an employee could be working a late night closing down the store.

I also wonder what the exact timeline is. I wonder if it's possible that truck left while everyone was distracted and then drove far ahead or hid somewhere until they could corner the girls. I also wonder if the truck arrived before the Merritts, if not, it's possible that they were the ones being followed and the person in the truck was not aware which one was their vehicle. Then later on, the truck catches up with one of the cars that left the store but it's the two girls.

What was the exact lapse of time between Merritt left, and the girls left? It sounds like she thought it would be longer and that the girls would be on the phone for much longer but then they left right behind them. What does right behind them mean? Was it one minute, or just a matter of pulling the car out of its place in the parking lot and driving just behind Merritt and her daughter?

 

[killarney rose]

I just checked a map. If the girls were lost in Headland and never got turned in the right direction to get back to Dothan, IF they somehow ended up in or around Abbeville, the hwy 27 is a straight shot into Ozark and probably the first pay phone came to as they arrived in Ozark would have been at the Big/Little.

It's possible the guy in the white truck had planned tofollow the 2 witnesses but decided to follow the girls instead. It was July in south Al. there are 2 worrds for that- hot & humid. Hiswindow was down and he overheard the conversation between the witnesses and the girls so he knew where they were headed and did not need to follow directly behind them.

 

[zuli]

hello,

I'm so sad for these girls and their families.

1. I thought about a recent sad story, because of the white pickup and the "night" and the place and the shot in the head.
I'm far from the USA, so for me "Alabama" is not far from "Louisiana". In 1999 Brandon Scott Lavergne killed a 35 year-old woman, then in 2012 he killed a young woman, a 21-year-old student : Mickey Shunick.

"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...y-mickey-shunick-lisa-ann-pate_n_1798281.html . Surveillance videos captured Lavergne following her in a white Chevrolet Z71 pickup truck, changing lanes and turning corners in order to follow her.
Court documents say Lavergne, a registered sex offender, hit Shunick’s bike with his truck, throwing her to the ground. Then, Lavergne either forced or persuaded Shunick to get into the vehicle and her damaged bike was loaded into the bed of the truck. [...] Shunick suddenly jumped up and stabbed Lavergne in the chest after re-arming herself with the knife. Lavergne then pulled his semiautomatic weapon and shot Shunick in the head. She died instantly. "

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...uments-reveal-article-1.1139163#ixzz2NKqdNlX1

2. A single man ?
- a single man had to be able to get the two girls out of their car, then had to get the two girls to follow him or get the two girls to drive him in this area where LE found a spent 9mm shell casing ?
---- if so, did he get the two girls going in the trunk before driving to this area and then he released them in this muddy area ?
- a single man had to got the two girls to be quiet ? So where was Tracie when he assaulted J.B ? Did he kill Tracie before ? Her clothes were muddy too (but less than J.B) and her pants had briars too, so she was with them in that muddy area.


3. About the DNA :
- State forensics examiners found the semen two month after the crimes.
Someone suggests before, but why not after ? between the murders and those post mortem analysis ? (I know how horrific that could be to think that), but then, this wasn't the killer's DNA.


Regards
Sorry I don't write english very well.