AL AL - J.B. Beasley, 17, & Tracie Hawlett, 17, Ozark, 31 July 1999 #3

[cherrymeg]

I concur with you that the investigators or the 12 LE agencies involved in the investigation are not involved in any type of cover-up. However, mistakes were obviously made early in the investigation.

As far as me changing my mind, I will just say I have a lot of mixed feelings about the identity of the killer or killers. I originally thought it might have been a police impersonator or a rogue police officer acting on his own. Then, I shifted to the girls being killed by someone they (well JB) knew. But, as the investigation has lingered for 19+ years, I've started to realize that if these murders were something simple and the motive was obvious, the case would have solved the case by now. Then, this past winter, I received a tip from someone who gave me some info I feel is very solid. The person they were suspicious of was a stranger to the girls. The info was passed on to LE. Time will tell if the info is good or not.

Is there a reason J.B seems to be considered the connection to the killer rather than Tracie? It doesn't sound like she had the best home life but she seemed like a good kid. I'm not suggesting either girl is to blame but the killer could have been acquainted with Tracie or with someone in her family. The killer or killers could be strangers and those girls were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I feel like J.B has been portrayed by some people as a trouble maker or wild. It doesn't seem fair and hopefully it doesn't keep law enforcement into looking at people in Tracie's life too.

 

[somequestions]

I am with you on the route. Something else I brought up way back is that this route goes through a fairly bad part of town. This is when carjackings were happening often. It could've been as simple as two pretty girls at a traffic light, window down,killer walks up with a gun, friends follow in another car or he is alone on foot. Crime of opportunity.

I am really surprised that Ozark, AL has carjackings late at night like that. I certainly did not get that impression from the Haunting Evidence show, but then again I am not from Alabama. If that is the case, then the killer could have been on foot.

But then I think to myself, the killer(s) did not take any of their valuables. They did not even take their car, and at least from what I read, a Mazda 929 I think was J.B. Beasley's car, was considered a type of luxury car at the time. Why would they randomly carjack a dark vehicle at night?

 

[cherrymeg]

I am really surprised that Ozark, AL has carjackings late at night like that. I certainly did not get that impression from the Haunting Evidence show, but then again I am not from Alabama. If that is the case, then the killer could have been on foot.

But then I think to myself, the killer(s) did not take any of their valuables. They did not even take their car, and at least from what I read, a Mazda 929 I think was J.B. Beasley's car, was considered a type of luxury car at the time. Why would they randomly carjack a dark vehicle at night?

This is a good question. If you are going to carjack a car you probably don't want bodies in the trunk. Why would you even put them there? I would think they would leave the bodies somewhere else, I'm sorry it feels disrespectful saying it. Not taking anything is another sign that it wasn't a robbery. The murders themselves seemed to lack emotion. It almost seemed like they wanted the bodies to be found.

 

[somequestions]

I live in Alabama and used to drive in Ozark for business at least once a month for a couple of years but that was before I joined WS. This case is what brought me to WS because I remember when it occurred. At some point, hopefully in the next month, I am going to try to retrace their course from Headland at night to identify possible scenarios. I will say after leaving the Big/Little Store it isn't a straight shot to highway 231, there are a few "stay to the left"s or "keep right"s to borrow from GPS/map apps. There are also 6 traffic lights to stop at along the route to 231 and anyone could have walked up to the car with a gun at any one of them except the intersection of 231 and Andrews Drive (too much traffic and open businesses).

That would be very useful. It is hard on Google maps sometimes to trace possible scenarios. I cannot figure out how they got lost after leaving the Big Little gas station in Ozark, AL, where they met their killer, and how their car ended up on Herring Avenue. That is a mystery.

I do however think I came up with a good theory for how they ended up going north to AL 27 out Headland, AL. Inside Headland near the town square near the insurance agency you come to a point where you have to make a left to continue on 134 to Midland City. Instead I think they made a right because maybe they saw the sign for 134 but did not notice the direction? After that they became all confused because they probably thought they made the right turn following 134. That is what I think, but maybe there is some other way it makes sense getting lost. Maybe you can come up with some other directional scenarios.

 

[aegis100]

That would be very useful. It is hard on Google maps sometimes to trace possible scenarios. I cannot figure out how they got lost after leaving the Big Little gas station in Ozark, AL, where they met their killer, and how their car ended up on Herring Avenue. That is a mystery.

I agree somequestions, to me this is a critical piece to understanding what happened next. I just noticed while looking at Google maps again that if they turned onto 123 either by force or mistake they would have come to Holman Funeral Home on their left and there is a pond behind Holman. If you take the road just before Holman called Edna Drive there are some dirt roads that lead to the pond where the water could be accounted for. If you follow Edna till it ends at Matthew Avenue you will come out right at Herring and where the car was found. Was there a report from an employee at the hospital about hearing a gunshot or something like a gunshot? I may not be recalling correctly.

 

[TedMac]

Do you think it was a stranger passing through the town, or someone that was an acquaintance to someone they knew. I've assumed a person was ok because I thought they seemed to be friends with a friend of a friend. That is a stranger, but the connection to someone you know gives you this false sense of security.

I honestly don't know who killed them. I see arguments for both sides (someone they knew as opposed to a stranger). I've always thought they went to the home of someone they knew and they were captured there. But, they may have been accosted at the rest area as someone has suggested or maybe even at a stoplight.

What has made this case so difficult to solve is the seemingly lack of motive. They weren't raped or robbed. The car wasn't jacked. Neither girl had any alcohol or drugs in their systems. Neither had any known enemies. Several different theories have been floated around, but apparently no one knows for sure.

 

[TedMac]

Is there a reason J.B seems to be considered the connection to the killer rather than Tracie? It doesn't sound like she had the best home life but she seemed like a good kid. I'm not suggesting either girl is to blame but the killer could have been acquainted with Tracie or with someone in her family. The killer or killers could be strangers and those girls were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I feel like J.B has been portrayed by some people as a trouble maker or wild. It doesn't seem fair and hopefully it doesn't keep law enforcement into looking at people in Tracie's life too.

Both girls were from Dothan and not Ozark. However, JB had contacts in Ozark from her dance class. She had been to Ozark several times. Also, JB's mother was either from Ozark or had lived there for a period of time. I am not aware of Tracie knowing anyone in Ozark.

 

[cherrymeg]

I honestly don't know who killed them. I see arguments for both sides (someone they knew as opposed to a stranger). I've always thought they went to the home of someone they knew and they were captured there. But, they may have been accosted at the rest area as someone has suggested or maybe even at a stoplight.

I feel like someone knows what happened. There is something odd about this murder. If it was a total stranger have there been similar murders like this one, as in a serial killer. Hopefully the police would check that out. Googling gets some weird and unrelated results. If the streets are empty and you're at a light having a stranger try to carjack shouldn't make you get out or stop. Or if you did get out you would guess they would take your car and leave. If the girls were waiting maybe for someone to meet them at a rest stop so they could follow them to a party they could have been isolated and more vulnerable to a random person. I can't get over how it seems like their bodies were left as a taunt or threat.

 

[cherrymeg]

Both girls were from Dothan and not Ozark. However, JB had contacts in Ozark from her dance class. She had been to Ozark several times. Also, JB's mother was either from Ozark or had lived there for a period of time. I am not aware of Tracie knowing anyone in Ozark.

Would that have made getting lost harder? Getting lost or "the movie ends in a half hour" were ways to extend a curfew.

 

[killarney rose]

I truly believe that this crime will only be solved when someone,for whatever reason talks. I think it was random and the killer(s) got lucky with the lack of evidence.

 

[SavageMarkIII]

I truly believe that this crime will only be solved when someone,for whatever reason talks. I think it was random and the killer(s) got lucky with the lack of evidence.

I agree with you that the killer(s) got lucky. And I would add, because as we have said, small town not used to a crime like this and when it happened, 1999.

Whoever drove that car to Herring St. had to leave behind evidence: hair, skin cells, etc.

Now fingerprints are interesting; it has been said there was a palm print found on the trunk lid. I'm not versed in how finger prints and palm prints work in the databases and the technology surrounding that. Can a palm print be searched in the databases like fingerprint?

In today's world, even if this happened in a town like Ozark or Dothan , the police would vacuum the car and test all the hair and anything else found. That just did not happen consistently in 1999.

 

[TedMac]

Would that have made getting lost harder? Getting lost or "the movie ends in a half hour" were ways to extend a curfew.

I think Tracie called her mom because she was late and it was past her curfew. They may have been buying a little time in an attempt to locate the two boys they had been searching for.

I believe the "lost" part was actually them not being able to find the boys. When they stopped at the Big/Little Store, JB asked Ms. Merritt (the kind lady who was outside of the store in the parking lot) for directions back to Dothan. Remember this store was just outside of Ozark. Ms Merritt told her how to get back to Dothan and JB said something to the effect of "Oh yes, I know where that is" meaning the road Ms Merritt was directing them to. I think JB had been to Ozark just enough to know the main roads, but she was probably unsure of the area around the store.

There was a small white truck parked at the store also with a white male inside. Supposedly, the driver was later identified and cleared. I think that person may need more scrutiny. I'd be interested to know how he was cleared. Ms. Merritt said the truck did not follow the girls from the store, but that don't mean he couldn't caught up with them later after Ms. Merritt left. He had already seen the girls and knew what type of vehicle they were in. I believe he is about a good of a suspect as anyone.

 

[killarney rose]

Going back to the white truck takes me back to the first thread when we were discussing it and Eagle Towing, because of the logo on the door. LE has botched this case so badly how do we know they really cleared Eagle Towing(remember there was a connection between them and Barrentine)and connected the truck to someone up north, then cleared them?

 

[TedMac]

Going back to the white truck takes me back to the first thread when we were discussing it and Eagle Towing, because of the logo on the door. LE has botched this case so badly how do we know they really cleared Eagle Towing(remember there was a connection between them and Barrentine)and connected the truck to someone up north, then cleared them?

The white truck was unidentified for a long time. Then Chief Spivey made a statement to the press several years after the murders that the truck had been located and the driver cleared. I do not know how it was cleared, but going from memory, I want to say he was somehow connected to the railroad-either an employee of the railraod or a contractor working with them.

I had forgotten about the Eagle Towing and the Barrentine connection.

 

[killarney rose]

Yes, I remember a railroad connection as well.

 

[SavageMarkIII]

So I am glad we are going back and revisiting memories and theories from the other threads. In trying to find the article where the Ozark Police say they cleared the driver of the white truck, I found this article (but they had not found the driver of truck yet). Interesting article, given our recent discussion of DNA and fingerprints on JB's Car. It also mentions the palm print, but again, it's not clear if the palm print is or can be used to clear suspects or be used in databases.

Ozark investigators renew search for white truck

2 Interesting points to me:

- article mentions "fingerprints", plural, found on JB's car have been used by investigators in eliminating suspects, but no matches yet

- 49 suspects have been cleared by matching DNA, but DNA is not the only thing used to clear suspects, but they don't say what else besides fingerprints and DNA they are using to clear. Also, that they realize, if DNA doesn't match, it does not mean they weren't involved in the crime.

Read article for specific statements.

So, I agree with others who have said lately, I think it's time to use the DNA on an open source site, as they did in Golden State Killer case. Since the Golden State Killer arrest, other jurisdictions have done the same and been successful in finding DNA matches too.

 

[TedMac]

So I am glad we are going back and revisiting memories and theories from the other threads. In trying to find the article where the Ozark Police say they cleared the driver of the white truck, I found this article (but they had not found the driver of truck yet). Interesting article, given our recent discussion of DNA and fingerprints on JB's Car. It also mentions the palm print, but again, it's not clear if the palm print is or can be used to clear suspects or be used in databases.

Ozark investigators renew search for white truck

2 Interesting points to me:

- article mentions "fingerprints", plural, found on JB's car have been used by investigators in eliminating suspects, but no matches yet

- 49 suspects have been cleared by matching DNA, but DNA is not the only thing used to clear suspects, but they don't say what else besides fingerprints and DNA they are using to clear. Also, that they realize, if DNA doesn't match, it does not mean they weren't involved in the crime.

Read article for specific statements.

So, I agree with others who have said lately, I think it's time to use the DNA on an open source site, as they did in Golden State Killer case. Since the Golden State Killer arrest, other jurisdictions have done the same and been successful in finding DNA matches too.

I had never read that and it is a very good article. I find it interesting that the article was written almost 8 months after the murders and they still had not located the driver of the truck. Makes me think he did not want to be found or identified.

Has anyone ever wondered why the truck was even at the store since it had been closed for over one-half hour? For that matter, why was Ms. Merritt and her daughter there?

 

[LR1]

Here's Dimedetective's post about the white truck.
AL - AL - J.B. Beasley, 17, & Tracie Hawlett, 17, Ozark, 31 July 1999 #1

 

[killarney rose]

My take of the truck being at the store is that they, like Ms Mitchell happened to pull in to buy gas and found the store closed. To the best of my recollection it was probably the only business of that type in that area so they might've thought it was open later than it was.

 

[CoolJ]

I am with you on the route. Something else I brought up way back is that this route goes through a fairly bad part of town. This is when carjackings were happening often. It could've been as simple as two pretty girls at a traffic light, window down,killer walks up with a gun, friends follow in another car or he is alone on foot. Crime of opportunity.

The white truck was unidentified for a long time. Then Chief Spivey made a statement to the press several years after the murders that the truck had been located and the driver cleared. I do not know how it was cleared, but going from memory, I want to say he was somehow connected to the railroad-either an employee of the railraod or a contractor working with them.

I had forgotten about the Eagle Towing and the Barrentine connection.

Yes, I remember spending a lot of time looking into this.
Actually seeing this mentioned now made me remember about the grease stain in the back seat. That isn’t mentioned much these days.