True crime stories make for great documentaries , but as they play out in real time , the details are usually horrifying.
In a still-developing story out of Georgia, a woman was found dead. Then things got even more grim when it was revealed that she sent an unusual message — along with a large sum of money — to her daughter on the day that she disappeared.
Deborrah Collier of Athens, Georgia was found dead on September 11.
Collier, age 59, was declared missing on September 10th. Her body was found the next day near her SUV in a wooded section just off the highway, about an hour away from her home in Athens.
Investigators are treating her death as a homicide.
Authorities are tight-lipped on the circumstances of Collier’s death , but what’s notable is the fact that they’re treating the case as a homicide. That means they believe there was foul play, and that she didn’t die by suicide.
Before she died, she did something unusual.
On September 10th — the day that Deborrah Collier disappeared — she sent her adult daughter $2,400 on Venmo . Accompanying the unexpected transaction was a cryptic message that may offer a glimpse into the last hours of her life.
The message is confusing.
“They are not going to let me go, love you,” the message read. “There is a key to the house in the blue flower pot by the door.”
Collier’s daughter immediately called her mother back, but there was no answer.
She was last seen on September 9th.
Collier’s daughter and husband saw her leaving the house on the 9th with her driver’s license and debit card. The next day, her daughter received the strange message and she was declared missing. The day after that, her body was found.
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Was she kidnapped?
The sheriff’s office isn’t revealing much, but what is known about the case would seemingly point to some kind of kidnapping. It’s possible that she was coerced into driving far from home, as there was no known reason for her to be in the area where her body was found.
Her SUV’s GPS helped pinpoint her location.
Collier was driving a rented SUV with satellite radio, which helped investigators track down its location. After a search of the area, her body was found in a wooded ravine close to the vehicle.
Her family hasn’t publicly commented.
It’s understandable that a grieving, shocked family wouldn’t want to go public at this time, so all we know is the rough details of the case. We’ll likely hear more as investigators pursue new leads.
What do you think happened?
We may get some sort of resolution on this case — but then again, we might not. What do you think happened to Deborrah Collier? Let us know what you think of this saga in the comments section.
h/t: 11Alive