I just saw this article. There is not a thread for this case, but I believe it’s been mentioned on the girls thread, so I’m putting this here.
48 Hours profiles Ozark’s Tracey Harris murder Saturday, Jan 23
At first I thought it said 48 hours was profiling this case. But then I read it more closely.
Maybe someday 48 hours will profile this case? This is the first case I commented on and it was the case that got me interested in how locations affect how a crime takes place. I am still wondering how after J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett left the Big Little gas station in Ozark, AL they ended up crossing paths with their killer? Where did the mud and briars on the girls clothes come from? Where was that location? I know the person currently under arrest is probably not going to answer these questions so all you can do is guess.
My complete guess is that both locations are one in the same. So my complete guess is that he crossed paths with J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett at the rest stop on 231. Then they all walked to some wet location with briars behind the rest stop before coming back to J.B. Beasley's car. He ordered them in the trunk, but quickly shot Tracie first. Then J.B. realized what was going on before he shot her in the cheek. He then drove J.B. Beasley's car back to the Herring Avenue location where it was later found.
But my theory has a major problem. Why would anyone be hanging out at the rest stop on 231 to begin with, especially if they are local to Ozark, AL? Why would anyone be hanging out anywhere in that town after 11:30 pm at night? I do not know about Ozark, AL, but it looks like it would be rather quiet and desolate in the streets at night around 11:30 pm. This is how it appears to me.
The real answer is that the locations could be
anywhere within the Ozark, AL area. But if 48 hours ever comes up with a story about what happened that night, even if only up to the point of leaving the Big Little gas station in Ozark, AL I would be interested. For example, did the girls intend to end up near Ozark, AL by going to a party near that area in Skipperville? Or was it really a wrong turn that caused them to end up over in Ozark, AL at the Big Little gas station? Why did Tracie tell her mother on the pay phone call from the Big Little gas station that the girls were "lost"?
This case will always be interesting for its localized nature and how specific locations and travel played a role in how the story unfolded that night back in late July 1999.