Debbie Collier death ‘personal and targeted’ as mysterious 911 call emerges
Georgia police have described Debbie Collier’s mysterious death as “personal and targeted” as more evidence in the mom’s demise emerges.
Collier’s body was found partially burned around 60 miles from her home in Athens on September 11, a day after she sent a cryptic message to her daughter saying, “They are not going to let me go, love you.”
The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office said it has ruled out kidnapping and suicide as causes for her death.
It also said investigators recovered Collier’s purse and cellphone at the crime scene, which appeared to contradict earlier reports that she left her home with just her driver’s license and debit card.
The sheriff has yet to name any suspects or leads in the case and has so far made no arrests.
Meanwhile, a 911 call made by a woman who identified herself as Collier’s sister has emerged detailing a prior encounter with an ex-convict.
“From my niece, she said that [Collier] was in an accident about a month ago,” Diane Shirley is heard telling a dispatcher in a call obtained by Fox News Digital.
Shirley says her sister had been driving behind a truck when a paint can tumbled off it and struck her vehicle.
“The paint went everywhere, and the driver was trying to convince my sister not to tell the cops he was driving because he was out on parole,” she tells the dispatcher, according to the news outlet.
“And there was a stipulation to his parole that he could not drive,” she adds.
Police confirmed to Fox News Digital that Collier had been involved in a minor traffic accident on April 30 but additional details were unavailable.
In another 911 call on Sept. 10, Collier’s husband, Steven, tells a dispatcher his stepdaughter, Amanda Bearden, had found his wife’s purse at their home.
“Came home, my wife wasn’t home, her driver’s license still in there, the rental car is gone, and her daughter’s here,” he says at about 6 p.m. that day as he made the first official missing-person report, according to Fox News Digital.
“We’re kind of worried about what’s happening and where she’s at. I was wondering if you could send somebody over here,” Steven continues, adding that his wife had no known medical issues.
He tells the dispatcher that he was out for most of the day “parking cars for the football game,” according to the outlet.
“According to her daughter, who went up and, uh, her purse is still here with her driver’s license, the only thing is the phone is gone — and she sent her daughter a text about two hours ago saying, ‘They won’t let me go.’ Whatever that means, we don’t know,” the husband adds.
Steven’s call contradicts information given on a missing persons report filed by Amanda on the same day, which stated she believed her mother did not take “anything with her but her driver’s license and her credit card.”
None of Debbie’s family members have been named as persons of interest in the case and officers said Friday they are still looking for suspects.
However, in a news briefing, lead investigator George Cason warned: “Right now, we have not ruled anyone out.”
“We are still in the process of trying to find a person or persons of interest.”
Cason also said investigators were still awaiting data from several service providers regarding Debbie’s recovered cellphone.
He also said police have confirmed Steven was seen on video working from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the day his wife vanished, Fox News reported.
Investigators are also awaiting the results of Debbie’s autopsy to determine exactly how she died.
Earlier this week, surveillance video from a Family Dollar store in Clayton showed Debbie looking calm while shopping there for a blue tarp, a lighter, a tote bag and a rain poncho a day before she was found dead.
Bearden and her live-in boyfriend, Andrew Giergerich, who both have a history of domestic violence allegations, told The Post they had been interrogated by detectives and had their phones seized.
On Tuesday, Giergerich told Fox News Digital he and Bearden were not involved in Debbie’s murder, and claimed that they have been living in fear of being targeted themselves.
“We sleep with stuff in front of our front door and our back door because we didn’t have anything to do with this,” he told the outlet. “We’re a little scared ourselves.”
