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

[trisha_mc]

This is all just pure speculation of course, but what if the girls were driving along slowly because they were lost, and the perp keeps flashing his lights at them from behind, honking, etc. in an attempt to get them to stop. They are already getting stressed out about being lost and decide to just pull off to the side and let this crazy person go around them. But instead of going around them, he pulls alongside and gets them to roll down the window to talk. He could now see that he's dealing with young girls and disarms them by saying "I'm sorry I guess I probably freaked you out like I'm some maniac or something, but (insert made-up issue with their car here)!" . As 17 yo girls, if the guy says one of their back tires looks wobbly and is about to come off or something, at least J.B. is going to come around back and investigate. They probably feel fairly safe knowing they are 2 against 1, so they aren't as alarmed as they should be in this situation.

And how come no one saw this happen on a road that was probably somewhat traveled that time of night? I think someone did see something happen and that person was Barrentine. It would explain why he knew things like what the girls were wearing, and maybe explain why all his stories were a bit shaky because he didnt want the killer to take revenge on him.

Just some thoughts I've had in the 4 days it took me to read all the posts on this thread. I had never heard of this case before, but you all did such a great job telling this story I just couldn't stop reading it!

 

[Catmommy]

Just a thought to add to the discussion and I'm pretty certain it has been considered before but what if the DNA didn't come from a rape attempt per se but a sodomy - oral rape - attempt. It would explain why there was DNA on the outside but not the inside.

 

[killarney rose]

Welcome to Websleuths, Trisha_mc!

 

[Veidt]

I'll try to catch up on the new posts later but something crossed my mind recently.

I was watching a movie (this has a point I promise) and at some point, the characters drive into a road that turns out to be a private road. It looked like a normal road just less busy and smaller.

I don't know much about private roads or how they work in the US but maybe the perp caught them in a private road (this goes with what I said before about them maybe trespassing on private property, and the perp pretending or really being the owner), if there were no signs it could have been an easy mistake to make.

Even a smaller road could have been passed off as a private one if the girls weren't from the area - it could have somehow (license plate, maybe, or just two girls wandering around, or following them since they asked for directions at that store) been obvious to the perp they weren't familiar with the area and he lied and said it was a private road.

It could help explain the ID, too, he could have threatened to call the cops or pretended to be a cop or security guard and asked for their ID.

:twocents:

 

[TooCurious]

So glad to see this case on here and people still talking about it. Hopefully one day something will break loose.

 

[killarney rose]

This news item broke today.I had no ideation the Wiregrass area had a cold case squad. What do you all think about trying to contact them about JB and Tracie's case?

http://www.rickeystokesnews.com/Article/?coid=22356

 

[LR1]

This news item broke today.I had no ideation the Wiregrass area had a cold case squad. What do you all think about trying to contact them about JB and Tracie's case?

http://www.rickeystokesnews.com/Article/?coid=22356

I read about this case earlier this year its good to see they might have solved it. The task force looks like it has 16 members from several counties but with it called The District Attorney's TF, I take it they're only working on covington county's unsolved. So that's a little confusing.

They exhumed a grave back in July of a guy they suspected was involved in this crime, after getting permission from the family which was very honorable of them and removed something from the coffin. The strange thing about it regarding our case here and almost certainly coincidental is that he died in a vehicle accident on 7/31/99.

 

[killarney rose]

Do you happen to have a link to where you were reading about the case? Sounds interesting.

 

[LR1]

I cant find the old articles about the murder that I had originally read, google news archive button seems to have disappeared but here's a few newer articles regarding the exhumation.

http://www.waka.com/home/top-stories/Cemetery-Excavation-Reveals-Cold-Case-Murder-Suspect-210348991.html

http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2013/06/06/body-exhumed/

http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2013/11/05/cold-case-finally-solved/


KR, on a side note, any idea how we can find out if there was a circus or carnival in ozark the night of 7/31/99 as was mentioned on another forum years ago?

 

[killarney rose]

Thanks for the links.

Wow 14 years ago. Let me try some checking. I don't have high hopes though. Perhaps one way might be to check old newspapers, I think Ozark might have one. There might be an advertisement for it.

I would also consider contacting LE about a cold case team checking the case out. All they can do is say no....

 

[TooCurious]

This news item broke today.I had no ideation the Wiregrass area had a cold case squad. What do you all think about trying to contact them about JB and Tracie's case?

http://www.rickeystokesnews.com/Article/?coid=22356

This case has to be high on their list. I can think of no other unsolved case that has gotten the media attention this one has. This, IMO, will be the biggest case they have in that area. It may well have been the driving force behind the creation of this taks force.

 

[wanttohelp]

Got the case

https://www.facebook.com/covingtondaoffice/posts/420498138072825

istrict Attorney Walt Merrell confirmed Monday to The Star-News that the county’s cold case task force has been actively working the 1994 murder of James “Nibby” Barton.

Merrell said the almost 20-year-old murder case of the Heath community businessman was one of the first priorities of the 15-member task force established in March. The investigators, who were not identified, were divided into teams and assigned to different cold cases. Since then, arrests have been made in two cold cases.

 

[killarney rose]

I started re-reading the thread this morning. Maybe time would give me more perspective....

I came across this in one of Dime Dectective's early posts.

"This is probably what I think about most when it comes to this case. Though J.B.'s car was low on gas when found, the tank wasn't empty. So the girls did not run out of gas, which would have left them vulnerable. And there was absolutely no damage to the car, so there's no evidence that they were forced off the road by another vehicle."

I was talking about something had to get the girls to stop after they left the Big/Little store. That is when their killers got them. What if they stopped to get gas and that is when they contacted the killers? I can't even remember if we have discussed this. And that leads to more possibilities as to how that might have occurred.

The intersection of 27 and 231, there was a Hardee's, Burger King, and a BP station. Did they decide to stop for gas and food?
Any thoughts on this?

 

[TooCurious]

If I remember right, they did stop at the gas station and one if them called their mother from a payphone to tell them they were late or something like that. Pretty sure they were placed at the gas station at one point that night.
Again if memory serves, they were going to a field party and got lost. To my way of thinking they would have had to have been intercepted at the gas station. If they were lost and heading back home then 231 was right there and they were from Dothan. So that would have put them right on the circle close to home. It's been a while, I think I will reread the case.

 

[killarney rose]

Too Curious, that was the Big /Little and it was closed .In my last post I am wondering if perhaps they headed on out of Ozark and stopped at one of the other places I mentioned, where they met their killer.

 

[Archangel7]

If it happened that way it would place the two girls and at least Johnny Wayne Barrentine at the same BP he was going to to get milk. In fact he could have been behind them when they were leaving the Big/Little.

Likely the same route the girls would have arrived in Ozark from Headland unless they cut off of 231/53 onto 123 to enter town.

Also from that BP(231/53 &27) it's out of the way to be anywhere near Herring if going straight back to Barrentine's home.

Barrentine could have come to the BP from home via 27, left via 231/53 to Deese rd, then North on Matthews to Herring or thru the powerline ROW to the ball field at Herring/James or via Leatherwood or Bingham to James st. then to Herring

Might explain the car being muddy(Deese to ROW to ballfield@James or via Leatherwood/Bingham.) Would have been remote also.

But he couldn't drive his vehicle and their car too.

 

[brado]

Where does the information attributed to Marilyn Merritt and her daughter originate from? These are the two women who encountered the girls at the Big/Little and gave the girls directions. Were the mother and daughter interviewed by police? Did they ever give a statement to the media?

I know at one time, someone on here was contemplating writing a book about this case - Dime Detective perhaps? If I was even thinking of writing a book about this case, I would definitely make contact with MM and her daughter.

 

[DimeDetective]

4/24/2007 http://www.dothanfirst.com/story/dead-girls-update/d/story/0tIjRZgtFE2OXH93qi4TnA

7/12/2007 http://www.dothanfirst.com/story/double-murders-back-in-spotlight/d/story/KrRHByVOlk-JUQgNc9Lr0g

7/30/2009 http://www.dothanfirst.com/story/new-leads-in-ozark-double-murder/d/story/QBb_UqZMNUencVE-Ze9cQQ

7/31/2009 http://www.dothanfirst.com/story/de...en-years-later/d/story/bHY8Ss8PFkSAPcPlbpveRQ

7/30/2010 http://www.dothanfirst.com/story/mu...eek-justice-11/d/story/MS4chk1H50adXG_GLWeqlQ

7/31/2012 http://www.dothanfirst.com/story/th...r-to-mourn-the/d/story/t9citgSAsEOl6vzV6Qdzew

 

[DimeDetective]

I started re-reading the thread this morning. Maybe time would give me more perspective....

I came across this in one of Dime Detective's early posts.

"This is probably what I think about most when it comes to this case. Though J.B.'s car was low on gas when found, the tank wasn't empty. So the girls did not run out of gas, which would have left them vulnerable. And there was absolutely no damage to the car, so there's no evidence that they were forced off the road by another vehicle."

I was talking about something had to get the girls to stop after they left the Big/Little store. That is when their killers got them. What if they stopped to get gas and that is when they contacted the killers? I can't even remember if we have discussed this. And that leads to more possibilities as to how that might have occurred.

The intersection of 27 and 231, there was a Hardee's, Burger King, and a BP station. Did they decide to stop for gas and food?
Any thoughts on this?

BBM.

"Why did the girls stop?" is a key question in this case.

Looking at the possibility that the girls stopped voluntarily for gas and/or food after leaving the Big/Little Store, it occurs to me that either a) a purchase would have been made, or b) the killer intercepted and abducted the girls before a purchase was made.

If a purchase was made, isn't it likely that some evidence of this transaction would've been left behind, whether in the form of a receipt found in the car, a record of a credit card transaction, surveillance footage, or an eyewitness? As far as we know, no such receipt or credit card transaction was discovered, no surveillance footage exists of the girls after they left the Big/Little Store, and Marilyn Merritt and her daughter were the last to see the girls alive. Also, if a gas purchase was made, why was the gas level so low upon the car's discovery? (Two possibilities: J.B. put only a small amount of gas in the car, or the car was driven around a great deal following a fill-up.)

If, on the other hand, the girls stopped to make a purchase but were intercepted and abducted first, this would've been a risky move on the part of the killer: a place that was open for business would've more than likely been somewhat well-lit, and of course any employees inside were all potential eyewitnesses to the abduction. Even if the killer was able to abduct the girls at this point without being spotted, an employee or customer could easily have observed his vehicle and come forward with a description.

Why did the girls stop?

And where?

Let's think about this in terms of opportunity. Where could the girls have stopped, or been forced to stop, that would've provided the killer an opportunity to complete the abduction with low risk of being observed in the act?

In my mind, it's somewhere dark: Depot Lane? A red light at a poorly-lit intersection? The rest area on 231?

 

[DimeDetective]

This news item broke today.I had no ideation the Wiregrass area had a cold case squad. What do you all think about trying to contact them about JB and Tracie's case?

http://www.rickeystokesnews.com/Article/?coid=22356

I read about this case earlier this year its good to see they might have solved it. The task force looks like it has 16 members from several counties but with it called The District Attorney's TF, I take it they're only working on covington county's unsolved. So that's a little confusing.

They exhumed a grave back in July of a guy they suspected was involved in this crime, after getting permission from the family which was very honorable of them and removed something from the coffin. The strange thing about it regarding our case here and almost certainly coincidental is that he died in a vehicle accident on 7/31/99.

WTVY piece from March detailing the DA's Cold Case Task Force and its objectives:

http://www.wtvy.com/home/headlines/Cold-Case-Task-Force-Created-in-Convington-County-199612081.html

It does sound like they're focused in Covington County, to which Opp belongs, which ties in with this July article from the Andalusia Star News about a renewed effort to solve the Kemberly Ramer case:

Ramer – a 17-year-old softball player and honor student from Opp – was last seen around 10 p.m. on Aug. 15, 1997. After 15 years, the case has not been solved, and now WCSO has revealed it is part of a multi-agency effort “actively working” the missing person case of Opp resident Kemberly Ramer.

Among those agencies is the Opp Police Department and the Covington County District Attorney’s Office – meaning this case could be one that is being actively worked by the county’s cold case task force.

http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2013/07/06/new-push-made-in-ramer-case/

Does the Ramer case bear enough of a resemblance to call for this task force to focus on the Beasley-Hawlett case two counties away?