The death of Georgia native Debbie Collier in September 2022 has rapidly grown into a case where authorities are seeing if this was even a homicide. It has also seen her son, Jeffrey Bearden call for Habersham County Sheriff Joe Terrell to resign.
The Son of Debbie Collier Wants Sheriff to Hand in His Resignation Over Reportedly Dismissing His Concerns About His Mother’s Death Investigation
Things stem from Sheriff Terrell reportedly snickering at him and dismissing his concerns during a phone call at the end of October. He has been very open and persistent in being updated on Collier’s case.
However, in a Facebook post from October 26, 2022, Bearden vented about what his interactions with the Sheriff’s Office and has expressed his concern over the department’s ability to solve his mother’s case.
The concerns in question were mostly about the progress of the case as well as the potential of investigation details being leaked by Sheriff Terrell’s office.
He starts by saying that contacting Habersham County for help was a “poor decision.” Bearden said several attempts were made to speak with the Sheriff before he was finally able to talk with him.
He claims that he was “met with a Sheriff who did not empathize with my situation, my concerns for my personal and family’s safety after being doxxed online, or potential leaks coming out of his office despite several media outlets claiming sources in his own department”.
Bearden went on to say that the Sheriff “used his time to snicker and laugh at my attempts to discuss my concerns and to tell me directly that he wasn’t trying to hang up on me when pressing him on his office’s actions.” Also, he says that Sheriff blamed short staffing for the poor communication between the family and authorities.
After talking with Sheriff Terrell for a while, Bearden wrote that he hung up after the Sheriff continued snickering after he requested that he not do so given the situation.
For those not up on the Debbie Collier investigation, she was last seen alive on September 10, 2022 at a Family Dollar store in Clayton, Georgia before 3 PM. She was aiming to buy a tarp and a torch lighter. Her daughter Amanda Bearden received a Venmo payment for $2,400 with a cryptic message:
“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.”
Collier was found the next day an hour from her residence in Athens in a ravine The payment and message in addition to her purchase made this a mystery.
After several weeks of investigation, the Sheriff’s Office seems to believe that Collier’s death wasn’t a suicide or kidnapping. It’s a situation that will require the medical examiner’s findings on that front.
However, it’s because other outlets’ sources are constantly relaying details allegedly linked to the case that Jeffrey Bearden has an issue with the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office: leaks and doxxing.
Now, Bearden just wants Sheriff Terrell out of office. A spokesperson with the department did some damage control on the allegations chalking it up to “a misunderstanding.”
They would go on to point out that the sensitivity of the case and the time required means that more will be known when they’re done:
“However, at the same time, it is incumbent on us to exhaust every theory of what happened and to derive at a finding that is based on facts and evidence rather than speculation and rumor. As stated, several times in the past, the scene involved in this case resulted in more questions than answers. As soon as all requested information has been received, analyzed, and evaluated, the sheriff’s office will provide a complete statement regarding the findings of this investigation.”
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