Georgia deputies said Friday morning that Debbie Collier, an Athens woman found charred, naked, and murdered on September 10, was killed in a “deliberate and personal act.”
The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office said that they are still waiting on phone records, as well as the autopsy results on Collier. The Georgia mother’s death remains a mystery after police found her body in a wooded area 60 miles away from the family’s Athens home on September 11.
One of Collier’s last known locations was at a Family Dollar store in Clayton, Georgia, on September 10. She was in the store alone, according to police, and when she left, she sat in her rental vehicle, a Chrysler Sebring, for around 10 minutes.
“We can tell you that we’ve received additional footage from a business near the dollar store,” Habersham County Chief Deputy Murray Kogod said.
“That additional footage shows us that Deborrah Collier walked out of the Family Dollar store at 3:09 [p.m.], got into her van and remained in her van in the parking lot for 10 minutes, before leaving the parking lot and heading south on Georgia 15/Highway 441/U.S. 23.”
“Please understand that this case is very complex in nature and has a lot of questions and unknowns that aren’t found in a typical death investigation.”
Kogod added that with the footage from the other business, the timeline of Collier’s kidnapping and death has been narrowed down from around 3:19 p.m. on September 10 to around 12:44 p.m. on September 11.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Collier walked into the Family Dollar store carrying a large black purse and vehicle keys while wearing a UGA football jersey.
Police say she was seen on security footage buying, in part, a lighter, a tarp, a rain poncho, and a bag.
Police scoured the vicinity of the vehicle and found her body and a burned blue tarp in a nearby ravine. She was naked, charred, and deceased, police said.
Although the case is being treated as a homicide, it’s unclear how Collier died, but investigators previously said that there is no evidence to suggest a kidnapping or a suicide.
Kogod said the investigation will likely take “significantly more time than the 19 days that passed” since the discovery of Collier.
Police also touched on the information regarding a Venmo payment of $2,385 that Collier allegedly sent to her daughter, Amanda Bearden, 36, on September 10. A cryptic note was attached to the payment that 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.”
Police said they are still waiting on information that will “confirm or deny” where the Venmo payment was sent from Collier’s phone, but they did confirm that Bearden did indeed receive the payment.
The payment, however, could have been sent on any device, from someone who had Collier’s login information.
Investigators are currently in possession of Collier’s cellphone, which was located at the crime scene. Bearden previously said that her mother left home with her debit card and ID only.
Search warrants for numerous cell phones of those close to Collier have been requested. Police are hoping once they get the search warrants, more questions will be cleared up.
The crime was “deliberate and personal,” police said, and not a random act and not the act of a serial killer.
RELATED READING: Daughter of Murdered Debbie Collier Has History of Arrests, Including Fights with Boyfriend: Court Docs
So far, no arrests have been made and no one has been named a suspect in the killing. The case is being treated as a murder investigation.
Anyone with information about the case should contact Habersham Sheriff’s Investigators Cale Garrison or George Cason at 706-839-0559 or 706-839-0560.
Check back for updates.
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[Featured image: Debbie Collier/Facebook]
