TN TN - Sadie Wallace Nelson, 74, Benton, 9 June 1996

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[h=2]POLK CASES[/h]
(V) John Burlie Pike June 9, 1996
(V) Sadie Wallace Nelson

On Sunday morning June 9, 1996, John Burlie Pike was discovered deceased in his driveway just north of Benton off 411 Highway. Mr. Pike’s live in companion, Sadie Wallace Nelson, was missing from the residence and has never been located.


https://www.tncoldcase10.com/polk-cases

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]Sadie Wallace Nelson[/h]

• 

Nelson, circa 1996

• Missing Since 06/08/1996
• Missing From Benton, Tennessee
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Age 74 years old
• Height and Weight 5'6, 130 pounds
• Medical Conditions Wallace was taking prescription medication at the time of her disappearance and does not have it with her.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Nelson has a gold front tooth. She wears eyeglasses. She may use the last names Cantril, Finnell, Sanford, Thompson and/or White.

[h=3]Details of Disappearance[/h] Nelson was last seen in Benton, Tennessee on June 8, 1996. She lived with her boyfriend, 77-year-old John Burlie Pike, on a farm north of town off Highway 411. They were joint caretakers of the property.

On the morning of June 9, Pike's body was found in the driveway; he had been beaten and his throat slit. Nelson was missing and the residence was "virtually untouched." She has never been heard from again.

In December 1996, police thought they had found Wallace after they learned someone was cashing her Social Security checks in Batavia, New York. It turned out Wallace's son was cashing the checks and keeping the money for himself, and he didn't know his mother's whereabouts. She has previously been married six times and is not originally from the Benton area.

There are no outstanding warrants for Wallace, but authorities would like to question her and see what she knows about Pike's murder. It's unclear whether she also met with foul play. Pike's murder and Wallace's disappearance remain unsolved.

http://charleyproject.org/case/sadie-wallace-nelson

 

[janerlynn]

Burlie Pike was my grandfather. I was only 3 years old when the murder occurred. The whole family is still desperate for answers. My papaw was my favorite man in the world and I would love to find any information leading to his murder.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Still missing, now 23 years...

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[ekardh]

An intriguing case. Shame it's not talked about more. I was only able to find a couple of threads on Reddit too.

Sadie's son was cashing her social security checks (somehow). He was one to profit from his mother's disapperance, but does that give him a motive or was he a greedy opportunist?

The fact that Sadie's husband was brutally murdered and none of the valuables or money were stolen, rules out a robbery. It would suggest a personal motive or a random kill. Why was Sadie missing? She was either abducted and killed elsewhere, or she was an accomplice, but by all accounts there's no evidence for the latter. Of course, if she was found dead, then no one could take advantage of her disappearance, which brings me back to the son.