AL AL - J.B. Beasley, 17, & Tracie Hawlett, 17, Ozark, 31 July 1999 #1

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Great work, jenstar. In the photo I just posted, I zoomed in on the logo featured on both the side of the truck to the right and the banner on the front of the building; it looks like "American Towing."

Let's see if we can find out what this business was called in 1999.

Does anyone think the logo on the side of the dark truck above could be what we're seeing on the passenger door of the white pickup in the B/LS surveillance photo?

To Me, and this also could be my mind trying to make sense of it..the American Towing symbol looks like and eagle. So maybe the head could be the partial middle part that is missing?
 
That picture is so blurry but it's possible it's an eagle as in American Towing. They could've refined/changed the logo since 1999.
 
I see Jenstar is thinking like me...it's possible we're seeing (on the white truck) the head of an eagle and the wings.
 
I see Jenstar is thinking like me...it's possible we're seeing (on the white truck) the head of an eagle and the wings.

And then maybe they had to change it due to copy write laws. Because of American Eagle Later in their business career?
 
And then maybe they had to change it due to copy write laws. Because of American Eagle Later in their business career?

KR, I'm not offended at all that we're working on the same "wavelength" here. But It sure feels like we're getting somewhere. lol
 
Just another thing that hit me. Another "what if" situation
What if it was a service/tow truck driver that'd committed the murders, and since that was the tow service that the police used to do their impounds; and they just let the guy go? I mean, it's a lot to point fingers in LE's direction (I know that.) But small towns are small towns everybody knows everybody and very well could turn the other cheek for a friend.

Interesting point... with all the accusations against the Ozark PD, maybe they have a grain of truth to them. I hope not, though. :furious:

That grease stain would make it more likely the white truck (if involved) would be a work truck. Now who would've been working that late on a Sat. night? Someone that owned a local business- had a job to complete and worked late.....someone that worked at one and was allowed to use the shop in their personal time, someone on call for a local wrecker service...hmmm...were call logs of local wreckers checkedfor that evening? Someone returning from a call and happened upon the B/L to grab a drink, or gas and there the girls were...that crime of opportunity angle...

You know, that sounds spot on. I was thinking about the fact that the truck could be unrelated to a vehicle business, like it could be a publicity decal for something else like a food company or even just a decoration put up by the owner of the vehicle. But the grease stain gives it a whole different angle as you say. Do you know if it was car grease?

If it was some kind of mechanical grease, it could be someone who worked with cars (mechanic, tow truck, whatever) or... it could be someone who was a vehicle enthusiast and had been working late on their truck. The kind of fan who would costumize their vehicle to have decals, special wheels, etc. Either way, it's got to be someone who was big into cars and trucks so that could narrow it down.

At the same time, I think that also makes it less likely to have been a casual appearance at the B/LS. IMO of course. I think that a local person and one who worked with vehicles at that would know the closing hours of that kind of place and probably went there often themselves to refuel their vehicles. Maybe not - maybe they routinely went elsewhere, the store had changed its hours recently, it wasn't someone local but someone who was passing by and had ill intentions, or maybe the truck isn't even related if it's someone who was driving long-distance and stopped to rest. BUT if it's from a local business and someone who was likely to know the store well... that just makes it so much more suspicious to me.

An interesting point in regard to the speculation on tow companies, the grease stain, et al... One of the 'dead link' reports I found about people being arrested for impersonating a police officer in the Dothan area was in regard to a local mechanic. As the link was dead, I couldn't get any further info. I believe it was a TV news article from the past couple of years however.

I myself eat, sleep and breathe cars, owning a few collector cars myself. I've looked at the surveillance pic about 22 to the 10th power times and come up with a different conclusion each time. We really need to see a few more pics to try to 'fill in the spaces'.

If the site you found it in isn't working anymore, you can go to archive.org and where it says Wayback Machine just paste the URL. Then you can select a date during which it would have been available if there's an archived copy in there.
 
I just found something interesting.

I was googling about Ozark because of the truck logo, and I found a public message board where someone who claims to be related to Tracie has posted. I'm not sure if it's alright to post a link or a quote because they gives out their e-mail address, so if it's not against the rules please let me know and I'll link it here.

- They say that Tracie's father was a policeman and that he died under suspicious circumstances, they felt that this might be of interest - as far as I could understand, he arrested some important people. I thought this was intriguing because this has never been brought up and indeed we don't have much info about Tracie.

- Should I e-mail her or ask a mod to e-mail them so they can join WS and hopefully get verified as an insider and answer some questions for us? The post has more info about this person that I'm not mentioning here.

I feel like having this person around if they're willing to join us (or at least to answer questions via e-mail) could be helpful since we clearly don't know a lot about Tracie, and also because if they grew up in Ozark they might be able to give us more information about the logo on the truck and other things like that.
 
I just found something interesting.

I was googling about Ozark because of the truck logo, and I found a public message board where someone who claims to be related to Tracie has posted. I'm not sure if it's alright to post a link or a quote because they gives out their e-mail address, so if it's not against the rules please let me know and I'll link it here.

- They say that Tracie's father was a policeman and that he died under suspicious circumstances, they felt that this might be of interest - as far as I could understand, he arrested some important people. I thought this was intriguing because this has never been brought up and indeed we don't have much info about Tracie.

- Should I e-mail her or ask a mod to e-mail them so they can join WS and hopefully get verified as an insider and answer some questions for us? The post has more info about this person that I'm not mentioning here.

I feel like having this person around if they're willing to join us (or at least to answer questions via e-mail) could be helpful since we clearly don't know a lot about Tracie, and also because if they grew up in Ozark they might be able to give us more information about the logo on the truck and other things like that.

Well, I did know that her dad was LE. I didn't know that he'd died under suspicious circumstances but I knew he was deceased. Verified Insiders are always welcome. I personally would also like to take a look at the link but you can do the next best thing and screen-cap it for us and edit out the e mail address and link. (If you dont have the editing software, I could do that for you if you inbox me the link and tell me where to look)
 
At the same time, I think that also makes it less likely to have been a casual appearance at the B/LS. IMO of course. I think that a local person and one who worked with vehicles at that would know the closing hours of that kind of place and probably went there often themselves to refuel their vehicles. Maybe not - maybe they routinely went elsewhere, the store had changed its hours recently, it wasn't someone local but someone who was passing by and had ill intentions, or maybe the truck isn't even related if it's someone who was driving long-distance and stopped to rest. BUT if it's from a local business and someone who was likely to know the store well... that just makes it so much more suspicious to me.

Respectfully Snipped.

For some reason I think that just by the owner of the vehicle NOT coming forward is a huge red flag. I mean you have to think that as soon as they released the information it was most likely all over the news and radio that they were looking for the driver. It would literally make me dwell on that for a long time if I were an innocent bystander who happened to be there at that time and place. Those kinds of things just gnaw at you.
But say it was someone that had a prior run-in with the law and they weren't supposed to be out at that time of night. Or had a run in with the law and didn't want to be the main suspect. Even THEN, I'd still think that person would have a conscience and "do the right thing." Even if I were in the wrong God and I would still know I were innocent.
It's almost a silent admission of guilt to some degree NOT to come forward with information that could possibly solve a case. Don't you think?
 
I Do you know if it was car grease?

If it was some kind of mechanical grease, it could be someone who worked with cars (mechanic, tow truck, whatever) or... it could be someone who was a vehicle enthusiast and had been working late on their truck. The kind of fan who would costumize their vehicle to have decals, special wheels, etc. Either way, it's got to be someone who was big into cars and trucks so that could narrow it down.

Respectfully Snipped.

I also think that LE has kept that a secret. They can tell where grease comes from just by analyzing the chemical compound.
Because axle grease is different from caked on oil from an engine. They could possibly tell which type of oil was used if it were burnt motor oil. Which would tie it down to a certain number of model of cars it was used in. I think that's another valid question to ask someone. If that sample had been tested as well.
 
Here is a good article with quotes that points me in the direction that Barrantine has information... he saw something that night and that he did not come forward on his own, it was only after talking to his wife that they brought him in for questioning.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19991010&id=u88yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TaYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7132,1799454

They got 6 different stories from him too. He was always #1 suspect till he was cleared of DNA evidence and had nothing else to hold him on.
If we can link this truck back to a business, and a business back to a list of employees. We will have our man. Be it him or not.
 
Well, I did know that her dad was LE. I didn't know that he'd died under suspicious circumstances but I knew he was deceased. Verified Insiders are always welcome. I personally would also like to take a look at the link but you can do the next best thing and screen-cap it for us and edit out the e mail address and link. (If you dont have the editing software, I could do that for you if you inbox me the link and tell me where to look)

This person says so. I edited out names and e-mail. I was initially worried that people may go looking for since they ask for info, etc. then they probably don't mind. Mods, if you think it's safer to remove this, please let me know.

Here it is:

35iqiio.png



Respectfully Snipped.

For some reason I think that just by the owner of the vehicle NOT coming forward is a huge red flag. I mean you have to think that as soon as they released the information it was most likely all over the news and radio that they were looking for the driver. It would literally make me dwell on that for a long time if I were an innocent bystander who happened to be there at that time and place. Those kinds of things just gnaw at you.
But say it was someone that had a prior run-in with the law and they weren't supposed to be out at that time of night. Or had a run in with the law and didn't want to be the main suspect. Even THEN, I'd still think that person would have a conscience and "do the right thing." Even if I were in the wrong God and I would still know I were innocent.
It's almost a silent admission of guilt to some degree NOT to come forward with information that could possibly solve a case. Don't you think?

I agree, it's really suspicious that nobody came forward. But I can think of a couple of scenarios where this is possible:
a) Someone who has had trouble with LE before and are on the run or recently did something else that was illegal. They don't go to LE because then they would be found but are not related to the case.
b) Someone who is not from the area, is maybe travelling for a long period of time, and never sees the news about the truck (or even recognizes the place). I suspect that this might be possible, given the amount of time that the truck was there when the store was closed - someone who didn't know it would be closed or had just stopped to rest.

I still think that the most likely scenario is that the truck is related to the case. It seems really suspicious to me.

Respectfully Snipped.

I also think that LE has kept that a secret. They can tell where grease comes from just by analyzing the chemical compound.
Because axle grease is different from caked on oil from an engine. They could possibly tell which type of oil was used if it were burnt motor oil. Which would tie it down to a certain number of model of cars it was used in. I think that's another valid question to ask someone. If that sample had been tested as well.

Yeah, this is why I was asking... I don't get why they wouldn't reveal that. I'm sure they could at least give away if it came from some kind of vehicle or other source. I don't know a lot about oil analysis, but I assume they could even rule out whether it came from the girls' vehicle. The lack of information on this case is frightening, I hope they have a good reason to keep everything under wraps (like trying to build a case against a POI). :furious:
 
LE had said that the girls were shot somewhere else because of lack of blood spatter and pooling in the trunk. I believe that's also in DD's notes a few posts back.

Yes, I am aware of that fact. Also they stated the pattern of the blood flow underneath the trunk area indicated they were shot elsewhere.
My post in 371 I was not implying they were shot where they were found. I was referring to where they were taken TO.
Before being returned to where they were found. If it was pitch-black on the road they were found on, according to the LEOs statement, than one could assume the place they were taken to was also pitch-black...Or was it?
I dont believe the LEOs went out far enough in there search for the crime scene. They should of went out at least quarter tank where the car was found.
 
I haven't read every post over night but thought I was current before that, so if this has been asked/answered I'm sorry. Do we know where Johnny William Barrentine is today ? What has he been up to the last 12 years ? Does he have a big criminal history ? Was he a clean guy and began a criminal history after 1999 , as if he had a life altering event? Now I'm going back to page one and Dime's timeline to see if the answer is there.
 
I just found something interesting.

I was googling about Ozark because of the truck logo, and I found a public message board where someone who claims to be related to Tracie has posted. I'm not sure if it's alright to post a link or a quote because they gives out their e-mail address, so if it's not against the rules please let me know and I'll link it here.

- They say that Tracie's father was a policeman and that he died under suspicious circumstances, they felt that this might be of interest - as far as I could understand, he arrested some important people. I thought this was intriguing because this has never been brought up and indeed we don't have much info about Tracie.

- Should I e-mail her or ask a mod to e-mail them so they can join WS and hopefully get verified as an insider and answer some questions for us? The post has more info about this person that I'm not mentioning here.

I feel like having this person around if they're willing to join us (or at least to answer questions via e-mail) could be helpful since we clearly don't know a lot about Tracie, and also because if they grew up in Ozark they might be able to give us more information about the logo on the truck and other things like that.

How long between the girls' death and the death of the dad ?
 
It makes sense to me that he didn't leave the girls bodies where they were killed because it might lead LE back to him.


But I really don't think he got the girls on Herring st. That is just not in a location where the girls would have been-not IMHO. You just have to be there to see what I mean. I think if any other members have been there, they will know what I mean. It's secluded and out of the way.

As you know the girls were not from the area. They were lost and asking for directions.
What may seem out of the way to locals may-have appeared normal to the girls. When your lost nothing seems out of the way, because you dont know your way, your lost. Being 14 years ago some things, if not many may have changed from that pitch-black night.

But your probably correct.
 
In my opinion, the possible design on the side of the truck is most likely not the logo of a local business. It seems that finding this truck would be extremely important to LE attempting to solve this case back in '99. I imagine that LE would have the ability to enhance and analyze this image much better than we are able to, and (again, IMO) would go to great lengths to compare a possible design on the truck to any local businesses. As posters have said... it could implicate possible involvement if a local owned this truck but had not come forward. I don't believe LE would take that possibility lightly. (Although some have suggested the possible corruption of the Ozark PD).

It is my opinion that if it is a business logo we are seeing on the truck (or even a personal decal for decoration), then the owner is most likely not local but resided far enough away to escape LE's search for this truck.
 
Just some random thoughts after reading the overnight posts.

I'm optimistic we might be on to something regarding the truck.

I'm still not ruling out Barrentine at this point. I don't believe that if he was involved, that he acted alone- I think he went out to get milk as his wife said and got pulled in on it. Somehow he met up with the killers and was acquainted with them. Either someone he knows or works with(leads back to the tow/work truck theory).

I am also assuming, but don't know for sure that the time at which the girls arrived at the B/L it had just closed, and there was either a clerk still inside, or one had just closed and left.

That would explain the Mitchell women having just bought drinks there. I don't think(again, not postitive) there were coke machines outside at any of the B/L stores.

There were B/L stores in the towns all over this area. They were a local chain. Trying to remember- I just don't recall outdoor machines. . They sold out to Inland a few years ago.


This scenario would also make it be plausible about why a work truck would be at the pumps at that time- truck was out for one of the reasons discussed, they stopped, bought gas/snacks/drinks, and still happened to be parked there when the girls drove up-still goes to crime of opportunity. And it also could place Barrentine meeting up with the killer(s) at this time when he goes to buy milk. Do we know if he walked or drove to the store to get milk?

As far as the driver of the truck being someone that was traveling and pulled into the B/L as a rest- I don't believe that is very likely. Possible, but not likely. And this is why.

Hwy 27 is a main hwy. But while it is, it is not one that someone traveling would take. Many years ago it was a main route through the area. However, it has since been replaced by bigger, 4 lane roads-231,431, and others. 27 has remained a 2 lane scenic back road. One you would take- for example- we have done this- When traveling to Eufaula, one would normally catch 431 in Dothan. But say we were just out for a relaxing day- we decided to go the "scenic" route and take 27 if that makes sense.

It is MHO that most likely anyone traveling through Ozark would have been out on the major 4 lane hwy-231.

Arriving in Ozark via hwy 27 would put you in the oldest part of Ozark.


Hope this helps put a perspective on some things.
 
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