JUL 8, 2019
Where is Willoe Watkins? Jefferson County 20-year-old disappeared June 15
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Watkins is a graduate of McAdory High School. Her mother, Miranda Michelle Lynch, was found dead in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor of a mobile home on Aug. 7, 2015. Police said she was held against her will for days and repeatedly beaten before she died of her injuries. The coroner's office said her death was the result of blunt force trauma, and she also had a bone broken in her neck. Authorities at the time said she was killed by three female friends who wanted access to her boyfriend's food stamps.
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Watkins’ father also is dead, and she is particularly close to her grandmother. They had talked via Facetime on that Saturday, but the grandmother did not hear from her again. Pennington said Watkins is usually quite active on social media and all social media activity stopped the same day.
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Investigators have been inundated with leads about Watkins,’ but none have panned out. “They’re getting so much information through social media, speculation and assumption, and they have worked every lead that has come in,’’ Pennington said. “It’s all over the spectrum.”
“They aren’t willing to concede she isn’t alive,’’ he said. “They are going on the assumption that she is.”
Authorities don’t know if Watkins is the victim of foul play. “That’s one option they are looking at,’’ Pennington said. “It’s safe to say detectives are looking hard into her connections with friends and acquaintances who possibly had contact with her up until the time she disappeared.’’
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