A Georgia mom who sent a chilling text message to her daughter before her naked body was found partially burnt in a ditch by the road was reportedly “targeted” in a “personal” attack.
Debbie Collier’s family were left struggling to figure out what had happened to the 59-year-old after she suddenly disappeared on September 10. Debbie, who worked as a secretary for Carriage House reality in Athens had taken her rented SUV that morning never to return.
The mom-of-one sent a final chilling text message to her daughter, Amanda Bearden, 36, which read: “They are not going to let me go, love you there is a key to the house in the blue flower pot by the door.”
She also wired Amanda $2385. After the frantic daughter was unable to reach her mother, she reported Debbie missing to the Athens Clarke County Police.
It was the last time Amanda heard from her mother and on September 11, police reports say officers “observed a nude female laying on her back, grasping a small tree with her right hand” in a steep-sided ravine near a wooded area in Tallulah Falls around 60 miles from the family home.
Debbie Collier was found dead in a ravine 60 miles from her home after she wired her daughter $2,385 dollars with a message saying “they are not going to let me go, love you”. She was discovered on September 11th. #debbiecollier pic.twitter.com/VUtdvLeEc7
— Rose (@901Lulu) September 28, 2022
Her husband, Steve, 67, said he last saw Debbie the night before she went missing but had not seen her that morning because he’s slept in a different room because of his “loud snoring”. He noticed Debbie’s SUV in the drive before he went to work the next morning but did not speak to her because he believed her to be asleep. CCTV footage of Steve’s workplace confirmed that he had been in the office that day from 9am until 4pm.
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Debbie’s car had been involved in a minor accident and was being repaired at a garage before her murder, and the black SUV she had rented was fitted with a satellite tracking device which helped cops to find the location of her body which was a short distance away from the vehicle.
According to the family, Debbie had never shown any signs of depression or mental health issues, and the reason for her disappearance and death was being treated as suspicious by police.
To add another layer to the mystery, the murdered mom was spotted on the CCTV of a Family Dollar store in Clayton, around 13 miles from where her body was found, on the same day she had been reported missing. Debbie looks calm and collected in the footage as she enters the store at around 3pm on September 10. She bought a tarp, a torch lighter, a rain poncho and a reusable tote bag. The tarp and the tote bag were both found near her body.
According to @FOX5Atlanta, Amanda Bearden originally told investigators that she was at the Family Dollar that same day. The store does not have any record of her being inside. #DebbieCollier pic.twitter.com/lO7ncMnKsm
— Rose (@901Lulu) September 29, 2022
Investigations by police have now revealed that Debbie must have sent the text message and the money to her daughter before she left the Dollar Store’s parking lot.
Cops have called it a “complex case” and are yet to find a possible suspect in the case:
“Right now, we have not ruled anyone out” said Lead investigator George Cason.
“We are still in the process of trying to find a person or persons of interest.”
While the cause and motive still remain unknown, Habersham County Sheriff’s Office said that investigators do not believe Debbie’s death had been a suicide or the act of a random serial killer but was mostly likely the result of a “personal and targeted” attack.
The investigation continues.