GA GA - Debra Ashby, 64, Covington, 29 Oct 2022 *supposed to testify against bf in DV case*

[PommyMommy]

Covington woman goes missing weeks after she was viciously attacked, family suspicious of her boyfriend​

[...]

“Her purse is missing, her medicine is missing, her phone, of course,” Collette said.

[...]

Covington Police said they haven’t been able to ping her phone to any cell towers and call her disappearance suspicious.

[...]

11Alive isn’t naming the boyfriend because he’s not a suspect. Police have conducted interviews with him, but haven’t officially said if they believe he’s linked to her disappearance. A detective said the boyfriend was arrested in April for domestic violence against Ashby. Police called the attack “vicious.”

[...]

Ashby, the major witness in the case against her boyfriend, was supposed to testify against him in an upcoming trial.

... She's a homebody with no car or work who relied heavily on her family.

Her boyfriend is currently in the Newton County Jail. Police arrested him one week after Ashby went missing, for violating the restraining order she had against him.

The family plans to hold a search party in the next few days.

Ashby was last seen wearing a gray shirt, blue jeans and a bandana style head wrap. She’s described by police as a Black woman who is 5-feet 3-inches tall, weighing around 112 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

[...]

 

[vls12345]

‘We’re hoping she’s still alive:’ Search underway for beloved metro Atlanta grandmother

Police tell Channel 2 they have a person of interest in Debra Ashby’s disappearance.

www.wsbtv.com

 

[YaYa_521]

‘We’re hoping she’s still alive:’ Search underway for beloved metro Atlanta grandmother

Police tell Channel 2 they have a person of interest in Debra Ashby’s disappearance.

www.wsbtv.com

SBBM

Earlier this year, Covington Police arrested Ashby’s then-boyfriend Arnithal Freeman on a domestic violence charge. Police tell Channel 2 they now call Freeman a person of interest in Ashby’s disappearance.

 

[YaYa_521]

Covington woman missing, police say her 71-year-old boyfriend is a ‘person of interest’

SBM

“She said that he was calling and she had to hang up so she told me ‘bye momma and I’ll call you when he leaves,’ but I never heard anything else. I think my baby’s gone. I hate to say it, but it’s what I believe,” said Ashby’s mother said, the last phone call they had together was on Oct. 29.

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 9, 2022

Police need help finding missing Covington woman

Officers said 64-year-old Debra Ashby was last seen at her home on Kirk Street in Covington.

www.11alive.com

Officials said detectives tried contacting Ashby’s phone service provider and had her phone pinged but could not find her or her phone. They have conducted interviews with family members and her former boyfriend, according to the department.

Ashby had a temporary protective order from her ex for a prior family violence charge. He was arrested for aggravated stalking and for violating the stay away clause from Ashby, records report.

NOV 10, 2022

Family desperate to find missing Covington woman

The family of Debra Ashby has been hoping and praying for her safe return.

www.fox5atlanta.com

... Police and her family say Freeman beat Debra earlier this year.

"She had bruises from here down, her jaw was swollen, she had bruises on her arms, I believe she had bruises on her legs, she had 2 black eyes," said Heather Collette, Debra’s Daughter-in-Law.

... Digby says Freeman is a person of interest in her disappearance and was likely the last person seen with her. He says the two were captured on a flock camera on October 29th.

"We don't believe she just wandered off," Lt. Digby said.

Using phone data, investigators searched an area Thursday looking for clues.

"We went out with about 60 people and grid searched a large tract of woods that we a place of interest to us," Lt. Digby said.

 

[Lwieckowicz]

Oh no the implications aren’t good. Domestic violence is so scary, can happen to anybody, any age. It’s so sad. JMO

 

[vls12345]

Search for missing metro Atlanta grandmother ongoing despite skeletal remains found near search area

Right now, it’s still unclear if the remains could be those of 64-year-old Debra Ashby.

www.wsbtv.com

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 17, 2022

Skeletal remains found in Covington | What we know

The GBI has joined the investigation.

www.11alive.com

[...]

The remains were found off Henderson Mill Road on Nov. 11 around 5:30 p.m., according to the Newton County Sheriff's Office. They have since been handed over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

[...]

The skeletal remains were found about 15 minutes away from where Covington Police Department investigators have launched a missing person's case. Officers are searching for 64-year-old Debra Ashby, who was reported missing earlier this month.

Investigators did not confirm if the remains belonged to Ashby. The autopsy results will determine the identity.

[...]

 

[YaYa_521]

The description of the remains as skeletal (vs. partially skeletonized, decomposing, etc.) gives me the impression these might not be Debra's remains. She's been missing less than a month during which temps haven't been extremely warm, imo.

Stacey Faye Nease is the only person from Newton County, GA who has a profile on NamUs. Makes me wonder 1) why Debra doesn't have a NamUs profile and 2) who else might be missing from Newton County but doesn't have a profile?

GA - GA - Stacey Faye Nease, 54, Newton County, 10 Aug 2018

Last seen at 3am when she left her residence on foot.

www.websleuths.com

My prayers are going out for all who are waiting for answers.

 

[Unsolved]

From the article in the OP more about the "vicious" attack (BBM):

“The officer that was there, he said he’s never seen a domestic violence like that in his whole time of working and he’s been on the force for 15 years,” Quincy recalled."

That says it all to me. So scared for Debra.

AF photo here - I missed the fact that he's 71:

Arnithal Freeman | Newton County

Published on April 16, 2022

thegeorgiagazette.com

 

[PommyMommy]

Nov 10, 2022 Updated May 19, 2023

Covington Police seek public's help in locating missing woman

The Covington Police Department is seeking the public’s help in locating a woman who has been missing since Oct. 29.

www.rockdalenewtoncitizen.com

[...]
Anyone with information on Ashby’s whereabouts or other information about this case is asked to contact the Covington Police Department at 770-786-7605. Detective Jack Treadwell can be contacted directly at 678-858-2271 or [email protected]