According to security footage, Deborah Collier, the mother whose death was discovered in Georgia woods, was spotted on September 10 purchasing a tarp and a torch lighter from a Family Dollar. The next day, her partially charred body was discovered.
Authorities claimed Monday that the Georgia mother, who was last seen at a dollar shop and appeared to be “cool and not afraid of anything,” was last seen naked and partially burned when her body was discovered in the woods this month.
According to a news release from the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, security footage from a Family Dollar in Clayton, in the mountains of North Georgia, showed Deborah Collier, 59, of Athens, purchasing a tarp, a torch lighter, a rain poncho, and a reusable tote bag.
According to the press release, she made the purchases on September 10 around 2:55 p.m. Investigators were able to verify her purchases thanks to a receipt the retailer provided.
Her body was discovered at 12:44 p.m. on September 11 in a wooded area off State Road 15; the Family Dollar is roughly 13 miles north of that location, according to authorities.
A blue tarp that had partially burnt and a red tote bag were among the objects discovered with Collier’s body. It wasn’t immediately obvious if they were the things she purchased at Family Dollar. An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by the sheriff’s office.
Additionally, it wasn’t known if the purchases, which included the lighter, were discovered there.
According to the sheriff’s office, the discovery enabled investigators to establish that Collier passed away between 3:09 p.m. on Saturday, when she was last seen leaving the store, and 12:44 p.m. the following day.
Murray Kogod, the chief deputy for Habersham, stated in an email sent last week that there was no additional physical or eyewitness evidence pointing to Collier’s kidnapping.
As we proceed and learn more, “we will, of course, continue to analyze all potential possibilities,” he said.
Additionally, according to the sheriff’s office, there is no proof that Collier’s death was the result of suicide. Uncertainty surrounds the method and cause of death. The sheriff’s office reported last week that an autopsy was still being performed by the state crime lab.
According to investigators, Collier’s body was recovered after the late model van she had been driving was found unlocked and empty at a roadside pullout. Authorities discovered her after searching some nearby woods. She was laying on her back and had her right hand on a small tree.
The sheriff’s office reported that the woman looked to have burns on her abdomen.
