NC Judy Carol Rawlings, 16, Randolph Cty, body left in field, 5 Oct 2001,*Fresh initiative*

[dotr]

Cold Case Spotlight

2001 UNSOLVED HOMICIDE - JUDY RAWLINGS

Judy Carol Rawlings, age 16, was reported missing from the family's Marsh Mountain Road home on Oct. 5, 2001. A hunter found Rawlings' partially clothed body on Oct. 19, 2001 in a field about a half-mile away off of Groom Road. Rawlings mother told deputies she was leaving for a doctor's appointment when she last saw her daughter about 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 3, 2001. Tony Ray Sierra Jr., age 18, told investigators he gave her a ride on a four-wheeler and left her at Farlow Oil Co. on Oct. 4, 2001. The Office of the Governor had offered a reward in the amount of $5,000. A Randolph County Crime Stoppers reward is currently being offered in the amount of $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

If you have any information on this homicide, please contact Randolph County Crime Stoppers 24/7 @ 336-672-6473 or call the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division @ 336-318-6682.

Click here to submit a Tip ---> Online RCSO Crime Stoppers Form

 

[MimosaMornings]

October 3, 2001 was a Wednesday. Wouldn’t she be getting ready to go to school? Did she walk to school? Catch the bus?

And who else lived in the home?

 

[dotr]

June 1 2019 rbbm
'Breaking Homicide' explores Randolph County cold case
"A little over two weeks after her disappearance, a hunter found the 16-year-old’s partially clothed and severely decomposed body in a wooded area not far from Rawlings’ residence.

An autopsy was performed. The report listed the cause of death as “undetermined,” but added that “the circumstances surrounding her death are extremely suspicious for an intentional fatal injury.”

From the moment Rawlings was reported missing, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office has been in charge of the case."

"There was a suspect — a teenage boy who claimed to have driven Rawlings to a convenience store on the night of Oct. 4. A search warrant was executed. Witnesses were interviewed. Items were sent off for DNA testing.

Despite the work conducted by detectives, years passed and the case went cold. No one was ever charged in the murder of Judy Rawlings.

‘Breaking Homicide’ takes the case

Fast forward to present day. The case, still unsolved, was recently reviewed by a new set of eyes.

Private Investigator Derrick Levasseur chose to focus an episode of his television series “Breaking Homicide” on the Judy Rawlings case.

“Breaking Homicide,” which airs on Investigation Discovery, follows former Rhode Island Police Detective Levasseur as he attempts to crack open and make new discoveries in homicide cases that have gone cold.

Following his involvement and success with the Investigation Discovery miniseries “Is OJ Innocent? The Missing Evidence,” Levasseur said that pleas began to come in from families for him to investigate the unsolved homicides of their loved ones.

″ ‘Breaking Homicide’ was an evolution from the OJ special,” Levasseur explained.

He said that, in most cases, he’s contacted by a family of a deceased victim. In the Rawlings case, though, he was initially contacted by a member within the investigative division of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.

“Although Judy Rawlings wasn’t famous, the case is no less important,” Levasseur said.

He was immediately interested, but Levasseur said that he doesn’t make an episode of “Breaking Homicide” without consent from the victim’s family.

“One of my first calls was to Tammy,” Levasseur said.

Rawlings’ mother, Tammy Schmidt, says she was thrilled when she learned Levasseur wanted to shine a light on her daughter’s case.

“It means so much to me,” Schmidt said. “I have suffered all of these years waiting for answers ... we want all of the media attention we can get.”

"Both Levasseur and the sheriff’s office agree that there is more than one person who knows exactly what happened to Rawlings that night.


“I do believe the individual who killed Judy is still out there in your community,” Levasseur said, and if he could tell them one thing: “Please come forward. ... Do it for Judy, do it for her family.”

“I’m wanting closure,” Rawlings’ mother said. “We want this case closed. For the person or persons who did this to her to pay. They’ve been free all of this time. ... Please come forward. We need justice for Judy.

“I’m just hoping and praying this is what it takes. ... Judy was a good girl. It wasn’t her time to leave this world.”

Want to watch?

* On Monday, June 3, at 10 p.m., the Investigation Discovery network, channel 76 in the Spectrum cable lineup, will air Levasseur’s discoveries on the Judy Rawlings’ case on “Breaking Homicide.”

 

[dotr]

Tonight, 10 pm.
What to Watch on Monday: ID tries to solve a North Carolina cold case murder
"Breaking Homicide (10 p.m., Investigation Discovery) - Season 2 of this true crime investigative series tackles an unsolved case from central North Carolina. 16-year-old Judy Rawlings was murdered in October 2001 in Asheboro, her body discovered in the woods by hunters and her murderer never found. Randolph County Sheriff Gregory J. Seabold invited retired detective Derrick Levasseur to investigate the case (Levasseur brought “Breaking Homicide” to Chapel Hill last year to investigate the Faith Hedgepeth murder). For this riveting episode, Levasseur questions witnesses and old suspect Wyatt Farlow, and even uncovers a damning police interview from the time of the murder that the lead detective on the case was never made aware of (oh, the look on his face when Levasseur played it). This feels very solvable."

 

[RookieInvestigator]

I took a look at a few MPs around the same time frame and it looks like the general area where Judy Rawlings went missing...

Coincidence?? Possibly...

MP9479
Deborah Jean Moore, Female, White / Caucasian
Last Contact: August 1, 2000
Missing From: Winston Salem, North Carolina

MP1301
Angela Whalen Hudson
Female, White / Caucasian
Last Contact: September 20, 2001
Missing From: Ruffin, North Carolina

** Judy Rawlings
Last Contact: October 5, 2001

MP2940
Michele Lyn Smith
Female, White / Caucasian
Last Contact: December 9, 2001
Missing From: Eden, North Carolina