WEBVTT 1 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.559 Welcome back to the Pathway Chili for this month's bonus 2 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:35.200 Patreon minisode I'm Robin, I'm Jules. 3 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:38.920 And I'm Ashley. Let's dive into this month's case. 4 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:45.719 July twenty second, nineteen eighty five, Nolansville, Tennessee. After failing 5 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.240 to pick up his wife from the bus station, seventy 6 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:51.119 nine year old George Owens and his car are discovered 7 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:54.560 to be missing from his home. One week later, George's 8 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:57.759 abandoned vehicle is found on a hilltop in a rural 9 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:01.000 wooded area over one hundred miles away, and piles of 10 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:05.680 kindling are found outside and in the back seat. Eyewitnesses 11 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:09.640 report having seen George in the area looking disoriented, leading 12 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:12.840 to speculation that he wandered off into the woods, but 13 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:16.000 a search effort fails to turn up any trace of him. 14 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:20.239 After that, the path went Chile. So this month we're 15 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:23.040 going to be exploring an unsolved missing person's case involving 16 00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:26.920 an elderly victim, the nineteen eighty five disappearance of George Owens. 17 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:30.000 If you're an unsolved mysteries fan, you're probably familiar with 18 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:32.280 this story, which is often ranked as one of the 19 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:36.560 saddest most heartbreaking segments ever featured on the show. George 20 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:39.120 was a very well liked and well respected minister from 21 00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:42.159 a small town in Tennessee, who lived an ordinary life 22 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.719 with his wife, Aileen, and seemed to be an unlikely 23 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:47.760 candidate to find himself at the center of an unsolved mystery. 24 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:51.079 But everything changed when Aleen left town to visit a 25 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:53.319 family member and George failed to pick her up a 26 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:57.719 schedule from the bus station. Everyone became completely perplexed when 27 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:00.400 George's abandoned car was found on a rural hill top 28 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:03.239 over one hundred miles away, as George had no known 29 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:06.640 connection to the area. However, based on reports from a 30 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.800 number of eyewitnesses who were called seeing George, it became 31 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.039 apparent that he may have suffered some sort of medical 32 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:15.080 issue and become disoriented, which is why you wound up 33 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:18.080 so far from home. But if that's the case, what 34 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:21.120 actually happened to George. Did he abandon his car and 35 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:24.120 dive exposure after walking into the woods, or did he 36 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.639 cross paths with the wrong person and become the victim 37 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:30.319 of foul play? Frustratingly, even though the case is still 38 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:33.879 unsolved to this day, the unsolved mystery segment is currently 39 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:36.680 not available for viewing on their own film Rise channel 40 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:39.520 on Amazon Prime or YouTube. So I thought that would 41 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:41.520 be an ideal time to revisit it. On the path 42 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:42.039 went Chile. 43 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:45.039 Okay, I can tell this is already going to be 44 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:48.759 a heartbreaking case because poor George, he's seventy nine years 45 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:51.360 old and he's going to pick up his wife and 46 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:54.479 he never shows up. Then we find his car in 47 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:58.000 a very unusual place. It's far away, he doesn't have 48 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:01.319 a connection there, and so everyone starts wonder what happened? 49 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.680 Did he meet foul play? Did something happen to him? 50 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:08.319 Like you said, medically, you know, it's seventy nine. Common 51 00:03:08.439 --> 00:03:12.560 things that don't really have a profound physical effect on 52 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:17.599 people our age or young young ends can have really 53 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:21.960 really critical mental health effects on elderly people. For example, 54 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:25.159 something as easy as like a UTI. My dad recently 55 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:28.159 was experiencing one of those after a surgery, or many 56 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:31.520 of those after his surgery, and it literally made him hallucinate. 57 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.759 He couldn't he couldn't really tell where he was, and 58 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:38.159 the doctor said, oh yeah. And elderly people when they 59 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:43.039 get a urinary track infection, it has significant cognitive issues. 60 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:43.280 With it. 61 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:46.439 So it's possible that something like that happened to George, 62 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:49.919 where no one saw signs of any kind of mental 63 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:53.280 distress or any kind of physical distress, and then within days, 64 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:57.560 maybe George suffered something that took him out of his element. 65 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:01.120 Yeah, that's the thing, because in this case, him suffering 66 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:03.159 from some sort of medical issue which caused him to 67 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:05.919 become disoriented and go to a strange place. It's pretty 68 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:09.080 plausible from what I've heard. No one saw any warning signs. 69 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:11.080 There didn't seem to be any medical issues with them 70 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:13.879 prior to when he went missing. So if that's what happened, 71 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:16.319 then it obviously overcame him very quickly. 72 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:22.639 So our story begins in nineteen eighty five and Nolansville, Tennessee, 73 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:26.560 a small town of around fifteen hundred people located just 74 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:30.519 over twenty miles southeast of Nashville. Our central figure is 75 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.720 seventy nine year old African American man named George Owens, 76 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:37.199 who lives with his seventy seven year old wife, Eline Owens. 77 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:40.680 The couple were high school sweethearts and have been married 78 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.839 for sixty years. After retiring from his job as a 79 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:48.120 custodian during the nineteen sixties, George became the associate minister 80 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.920 at Nashville's New Hope Baptist Church. He's considered to be 81 00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:55.120 a very well liked and respected citizen within the community 82 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:59.319 who never misses his Sunday services. On the morning of Monday, 83 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:02.839 July twentie second, George was scheduled to drive from Nolan 84 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:05.000 Hille to Nashville in order to pick up a Lien 85 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:07.480 at the bus station as she was returning from a 86 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.279 trip to Ohio to visit her niece. Aleen's overnight bus 87 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:14.519 ride arrived at six thirty am, but to her surprise, 88 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:16.839 George was not there to meet her, and he never 89 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:19.759 showed up. The couple had spoken on the phone at 90 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:24.199 around three pm the previous afternoon, where George joked quote, well, 91 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:28.279 I'll meet you if I don't oversleep. Indeed, Eileen hoped 92 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:32.040 that George had simply overslept, but after waiting for an hour, 93 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:35.560 she finally decided to call George's brother, Alfred and asked 94 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:38.639 him to come pick her up. Alfred attempted to call 95 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:41.439 George but received no answer, so we went to meet 96 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:44.360 Alean at the bus station and drove her home. When 97 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:47.600 they discovered that both George and his green nineteen seventy 98 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:49.160 two Dodge Start were missing. 99 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.680 Two place settings with a couple Sunday dinnerware were on 100 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:55.399 the dining room table, and the only clothing which appeared 101 00:05:55.399 --> 00:05:58.439 to be missing was one of George's black suits. One 102 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.279 month earlier, Alien had given George a black hat for 103 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:03.920 his birthday, and even though George had worn it every 104 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:07.480 single day since then, it was left behind. The couple's 105 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:10.000 dog was also wandering around the house and appeared to 106 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:13.680 have not been recently fed. Alfred became concerned enough that 107 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:17.759 he immediately contacted the police and reported George missing. Neighbors 108 00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:19.959 would say that they last saw George leaving the house 109 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.839 on the afternoon of July to twenty first, driving his 110 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.600 Dodge Dart on Nolansville Road towards Nashville, which they found 111 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:29.399 unusual since George was not scheduled to pick up a 112 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:31.000 lean until the following morning. 113 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:35.480 So it is possible that George was confused on the date, 114 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:37.800 and that would signify that he was having some kind 115 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:40.199 of mintal distress or some kind of cognitive issue that 116 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:44.040 was going on. It's also really odd that it sounds 117 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:45.680 like the dog would have been taken care of in 118 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.079 a different manner, maybe put in a in a crate, 119 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:50.120 maybe in a little room, maybe would have been you know, 120 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.720 just had more food and water put out, and in 121 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:55.879 this little hat that's kind of his safety blanket now 122 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:57.519 that his wife gave him. It's kind of his love 123 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:01.360 letter from her. He leaves it and he's been wearing 124 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:03.240 it every single day. So he's changing a lot of 125 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:06.800 his just normal routine behaviors and God bless him. They 126 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.519 even had the Sunday dinnerware set on the dining room 127 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:12.360 table waiting basically waiting for her to come home, and 128 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:15.000 he was going to spend the evening with her and 129 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:16.319 it never happens. 130 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:19.519 Well, it strikes me is that he set two places 131 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:22.720 with the Sunday dinnerware even though Aileen was not scheduled 132 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.240 to come home until Monday morning. So I take that 133 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:27.480 as a sign that he may become confused and thought 134 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:29.319 that Aileen, he was supposed to pick her up on 135 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:31.600 Sunday and then we'd be back home in time for dinner. 136 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:33.560 And for all we know, maybe he showed up to 137 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:36.199 the bus station and when she didn't show up, he 138 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:38.399 was just left completely confused. 139 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:40.079 And at that time. We didn't have cell phones or 140 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:41.839 anything like that where he could be calling and keeping 141 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:43.839 in touch with her. This is a seventy nine year 142 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:46.519 old man who's picking up his seventy seven year old wife. 143 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:49.639 I definitely think it feels like something was off and 144 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:52.920 he was confused, and then, like you said, when plans 145 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:55.120 aren't working out the way, he thought that could also 146 00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:58.399 lead to further distress and kind of fear, because that's 147 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:01.160 what happens when you don't remember where you are or 148 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:02.600 what day it is, or those kinds of things that 149 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:04.519 leads to a sense of fear and panic. 150 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:08.720 My grandmother had to mention dementia in the last years 151 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:13.639 of her life, and before she was moved into like 152 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:16.360 a home, like a residence where they would care for them, 153 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:20.680 she was in this really huge house all by herself 154 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:25.160 on this property, and she would go to church on 155 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:27.160 like a day at like five point thirty in the 156 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:29.360 morning when there was no church service, and she would 157 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:32.320 show up somewhere completely different and she'd be like knocking 158 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:35.320 on somebody's house, being like I'm here for church, and 159 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:37.519 it would be like five am in the morning. So 160 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:40.919 it is incredibly scary when somebody gets to that point. 161 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:43.080 I mean not to say that he had dementia, but 162 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:45.919 there could be any number of cognitive issues that could 163 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:49.440 cause him to be very disoriented or confused. And that 164 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:52.720 is such a scary position for the person who's confused 165 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:55.720 and for the people around them who maybe don't know 166 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:56.399 how to help them. 167 00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:58.960 And what about if George was he was alone, like 168 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.240 his wife wasn't there. He's seventy nine. What if he 169 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.600 had tripped and fallen and it wasn't really a significant 170 00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:06.279 fall where he felt a need to tell anybody, but 171 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:09.039 he had accidentally hit his head, something had happened like that, 172 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:11.960 like my mom has some stability issues now caring for 173 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.320 my dad, where she's fallen and hit her head, hit 174 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:17.000 her face, things like that, and she'll be like I'm fine, 175 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:19.679 I'm fine, and my brother and I keep saying like yeah, 176 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:21.639 but you don't know if you're fine or not right, 177 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:24.679 like you hurt yourself. And so if someone wasn't there 178 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:27.240 telling him, like dad, like maybe you should go get 179 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.879 checked out, and he just thinks he's fine, it's possible 180 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:32.320 something minor like that happened too. 181 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.279 Oh, totally, It's very possible that at his age he 182 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:39.440 could have had a slip and fall, and just hitting 183 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:43.519 your head and maybe being mildly concussed could cause them 184 00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:47.960 like confusion or rapid cognitive decline without some kind of 185 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:53.240 medical intervention. For six days, there would be no sign 186 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:56.720 of George until his family was notified that his abandoned 187 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.679 car had been discovered on a remote hilltop overlooking the 188 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:03.120 Tennis River in a rural wooded area in Perry County. 189 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:06.720 The keys were still in the ignition, the battery was dead, 190 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:10.159 the driver's side window was down, the back door was open, 191 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:14.559 and George's cane was resting against the car. There was 192 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:17.320 also a box of matches on the dashboard, even though 193 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:21.080 George had quit smoking a long time ago. The strangest 194 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:24.639 detail was that there were piles of tree branches and 195 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:28.120 brushed surrounding the vehicle, as if someone had been planning 196 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:30.879 to start a fire, and a pile of kindling was 197 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:33.759 stacked up in the back seat next to George's suit jacket. 198 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:37.159 According to George's family, it was a common habit for 199 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:39.360 him to go around his house, pick up wood and 200 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:42.879 place it in piles. The only access to the hilltop 201 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:45.879 was a very rough and rocky logging road, which would 202 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:48.600 have been difficult for George to navigate. While there were 203 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:51.799 no obvious signs of struggle or foul play. A search 204 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:54.919 and rescue operation was launched in the surrounding wooded area, 205 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.440 but they could find no trace of George. Since this 206 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:01.279 location was over a hundred miles away from George's home, 207 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.480 no one could figure out what his car would have 208 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:05.200 been doing there. 209 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:08.639 This would be very concerning for law n versement and 210 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:10.639 the family. Like, Okay, I have this seventy nine year 211 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:13.240 old man who's missing. Then we go and we discover 212 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:15.960 his car. It's in a bizarre area, like a very 213 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:19.960 rocky logging road. It's not something that you know seventy 214 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:21.799 nine year old man's would be like, Oh that's fun, 215 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.159 let's go right up this hilltop. But if he was 216 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:28.879 confused and he kept driving up this this rough road, 217 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:31.799 what if let's say he did meet like a fallen 218 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.240 tree branch, or he met something he couldn't kind of 219 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:37.759 navigate around, or he was driving over things that made 220 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:40.679 him feel uncomfortable. He gets out, he doesn't know where 221 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:43.320 he is, and one of the things that is normal 222 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.519 for him or comforting for him is that routine stacking 223 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.360 of the wood. It's interesting that the family when they 224 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:53.440 heard that, weren't immediately like concerned. They said, well, my 225 00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:55.919 dad did do that, or George did do that? Right, 226 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:58.840 this was normal for him to want to go gather wood. 227 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:01.759 Now where he puts it would be very bizarre because 228 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:04.240 he's not at his home, and maybe he is placing 229 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:08.080 it in the back seat around the car. But to me, 230 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:10.399 this seventy nine year old man, if he was super confused, 231 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:13.360 how far could he have gotten from his car. That's 232 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:15.360 the only part of me that says, Oh, my god, 233 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.279 did someone meet him there? It was also an African 234 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:22.360 American man in Tennessee. It's twenty twenty three. In racism 235 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:24.600 still a big deal, especially in the South. So did 236 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.279 he meet somebody who was wanting to hurt somebody? I'm 237 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:31.440 praying that he was not met with something else and that, 238 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.919 you know, because God, that's just even more horrifying for him. 239 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:38.960 So I don't know, this is sad. My heart hurts. 240 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:41.600 I think maybe George was confused, it was trying to 241 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:44.919 do something that made him feel in control and at home. 242 00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:49.159 Yeah, exactly, Like I know that search efforts will often 243 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.720 miss people's remains if they're looking through a wooded area, 244 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.840 but the detail about George leaving behind his cane means 245 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:56.519 that he wouldn't have been able to make it very far, 246 00:12:56.679 --> 00:12:59.080 so that does lend Creeden's to the idea that maybe 247 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.399 this isn't just a case of someone walking and dying 248 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.840 of exposure, and that he may have crossed passed with 249 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.159 the wrong person and was the victim of foul play. 250 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:10.879 A local television station aired a missing person's bulletin with 251 00:13:10.919 --> 00:13:13.720 George's photograph, and it wasn't long before a number of 252 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:16.919 people came forward who claimed to have recognized him. One 253 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:19.600 of these witnesses was Larry Potts, the owner of Our 254 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:22.159 Garage in the town of Santa Fe, who claimed that 255 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:24.960 sometime between nine and ten am on the morning of 256 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:28.039 July to twenty second, George stopped at his establishment to 257 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.399 get a flat tire repaired. This was around three hours 258 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:33.320 after he had been scheduled to pick up a lean 259 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:35.960 at the bus station, and it was unclear what George 260 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:38.399 was doing in Santa Fe to begin with, since it 261 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:42.440 was nearly fifty miles southwest of Nashville. However, Plots thought 262 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:45.000 that George looked a bit confused and said he wandered 263 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.399 around with his cane for thirty minutes while the tire 264 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.840 was being replaced before George paid him in cash. He 265 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:54.399 also recorded George asking him for directions to Nolansville before 266 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:56.840 he left and turned north on Highway seven. 267 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.519 So he went there after he was supposed to pick 268 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:05.159 up Alien, which means he left a day early and 269 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.639 then was getting his tired changed late after he was 270 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:10.399 supposed to pick her up. Where she's calling her brother 271 00:14:10.519 --> 00:14:14.279 saying like, hey, George isn't here. Do you think this 272 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:18.159 is a mistaken identity? Larry seems to have really known 273 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:20.200 who George was. Do you think he could have missed 274 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:22.200 what day it was? Like maybe it was the day before. 275 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.120 Well, that's the thing is that he was last leaving 276 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:29.720 his house on Sunday afternoon, and this was the following morning. 277 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:32.200 So like I could see George leaving on Monday morning 278 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:35.399 and possibly becoming confused and driving in the wrong direction 279 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:37.480 when he was supposed to be picking up his wife 280 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:39.840 at the bus station. But it makes me wonder if 281 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:42.559 he left the previous afternoon, where was he during that 282 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:46.320 window of around twelve to sixteen hours before he wound 283 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.000 up at this gas station in Santa Fe. I mean, 284 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.799 I think the sighting from the gas station attendant is 285 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:55.440 pretty convincing because George is are pretty distinct people. There 286 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:58.639 couldn't have been that many elderly black people in rural 287 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:01.559 Tennessee who had gone missing during that time period. And 288 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:04.159 as we're going to talk about, there's another eye witness 289 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:06.559 who's going to come forward who tells a very similar 290 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:09.960 story to the one that Larry Potts told, which makes 291 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:11.639 me think that his sighting is believable. 292 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:17.600 Mary Joe Phoebus, a clerk at the Lobelville Market, claimed 293 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.159 that a man matching George's description walked into the establishment 294 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:23.840 and purchased some ice cream before walking back outside to 295 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:27.279 his car. However, a few minutes later, George re entered 296 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:29.960 the store to purchase some cigars, and he was also 297 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.720 given a box of matches. But afterwards, George started talking 298 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:36.000 about how he couldn't find his wife and went on 299 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:38.799 about how they used to love dancing together, which gave 300 00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:42.080 Phoebus the impression that he may have been disoriented. She 301 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.720 decided to call the local clinic to see if George's 302 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.480 wife might be there, but there were no patients matching 303 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:51.039 her description. George then left the market, and this was 304 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:54.240 the last time that he was confirmed to be alive. However, 305 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:56.919 there would be one more sighting of George's Dodge start 306 00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:00.399 later that afternoon. The remote hilltop with the view was 307 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:03.840 discovered was about twelve miles from the market, and a 308 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.639 local resident who lived near the site remembered seeing the 309 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:10.039 dart drive uphill on the logging road towards the spot. 310 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:13.120 But interestingly enough, the witness also said there was a 311 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.879 pickup truck following George's car uphill on the same road 312 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:19.919 before they saw the truck re emerge and drive downhill 313 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:23.919 about fifteen to twenty minutes later. This led to speculation 314 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:26.600 that the person driving the truck may have had an 315 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:29.639 encounter with George on the hilltop, but neither the truck 316 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:31.759 nor its driver werever identified. 317 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:36.840 Oh that's heartbreaking. It does make it very concerning that. Okay, 318 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:39.759 I saw this distinct car going up this logging road. 319 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:42.080 It doesn't really fit there, and then all of a 320 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:45.240 sudden there's a truck right behind it and it comes 321 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:48.159 down about fifteen to twenty minutes later. I wonder if 322 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:51.639 this person had seen him and had noticed that he 323 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:56.600 was not stable and thought, Okay, this is a very 324 00:16:56.600 --> 00:16:59.279 easy target. Not only is the elderly, but he's clearly 325 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:03.200 struggling with is you know, cognitive ability, And so maybe 326 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:06.880 they saw him as somebody they could attack or steal 327 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.880 from or take his car. I don't know. It seems 328 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:12.920 like obviously he's a prime candidate to be somebody that 329 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:17.200 would be hurt by another person. But why what did 330 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:19.319 George have? He was seventy nine, Like, unless he was 331 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:21.519 talking about money and jewelry and things like that he had, 332 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:24.000 what would someone want from him? 333 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:27.640 I mean that would make sense, Like under different circumstances. 334 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:29.920 I might think that the presence of the pickup truck 335 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.359 is just a coincidence. But there was this was a 336 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:34.640 very remote logging road. So what are the odds that 337 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:37.559 this truck would be following George's car around the exact 338 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:40.880 same time, unless you, like you said, someone saw George 339 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:44.000 in town, Bobby looked vulnerable and decided to follow him, 340 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:47.319 and when George stopped at this remote spot, the driver 341 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:49.920 of the truck then decided to take advantage of the situation. 342 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:52.200 Or you have someone who's a coward and says this 343 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:55.240 is an old man, an old black man, who's weak 344 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:57.279 and things like that, And I'm going to take out 345 00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:00.920 my you know, bias season and racism and hatred on 346 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:04.480 this man because he won't even know what's going on, 347 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:06.200 do you know what I mean? Like, I don't know, 348 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:08.720 I don't know. Now I feel like someone hurt him. 349 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:13.119 Strange that at this moment between this very small window 350 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:16.440 of time that somebody who would be capable of murdering 351 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:19.160 him could have done it. But also they did a 352 00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:21.920 thorough search and he didn't have his cane, so how 353 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:25.960 far could he have really gone? And if he was murdered, 354 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:28.319 what did the perpetrator do with him? 355 00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:30.680 And that's what I'm thinking, is that they didn't kill 356 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:32.480 him at the scene, but could have abducted him in 357 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.720 the pickup truck. And that's why he was seen coming 358 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.759 down the hill only fifteen to twenty minutes later. So George, 359 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:39.599 if he was murdered, his body could be at a 360 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:40.799 completely different location. 361 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:44.720 It just sounds like they're really opening themselves up to 362 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:48.000 great risk, right, Like once you abduct somebody, it just 363 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:50.440 feels like the risk is far greater than to murder 364 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.039 them at the scene, Like what would you possibly want 365 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.279 with his physical body? 366 00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:58.519 So Based on the reports of George's behavior at the 367 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.240 garage and the market, it was theorized that he might 368 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:03.680 have suffered a medical issue, such as a minor stroke, 369 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:06.440 which caused him to become confused and drive to a 370 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:09.519 remote location over one hundred miles from his home before 371 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:13.680 he vanished. Sadly, Aleen Owens was left completely devastated by 372 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:17.640 her husband's disappearance, stating quote, after being together all that time, 373 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:19.960 I can't get used to losing him, least not the 374 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:23.000 way I lost him end quote. She eventually moved out 375 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:25.279 of her house into an apartment and passed away in 376 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:28.319 nineteen eighty nine. The case would be profiled on an 377 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:31.319 episode of Unsolved Mysteries in August of nineteen ninety two, 378 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:34.960 and it featured interviews with George's brother, Alfred, but the 379 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.799 segment failed to generate any promising new leads. The following year, 380 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:42.359 George was legally declared dead and his grandson would inherit 381 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:45.599 thirty three thousand dollars from his estate. But after thirty 382 00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:48.720 eight years, there's still no answers about what actually happened 383 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:51.599 to George Owens. So I guess you could say the 384 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.039 path went chilly. 385 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:56.759 As when you read about how Aileen was talking about 386 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:59.720 how I just can't get used to losing him, at 387 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:03.160 least not the way I lost him. It's so crazy true. 388 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:07.039 These two had been high school sweethearts. Their entire world 389 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.279 was one another. Like people think, oh, okay, it's this 390 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:12.759 person who you talk to and those kinds of things, 391 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:15.599 But when you lose a spouse, it's someone that used 392 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:17.920 to put their hand on your back when you were cooking, 393 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.720 or tease you while you're brushing your teeth, or like 394 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:22.680 all these little moments, even the moments that you want 395 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:25.720 to kill them, right, it's those moments that you miss 396 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:28.440 so badly. And I Aileen had been with him for 397 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:32.640 how long, like sixty sixty some odd years, so she 398 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:36.440 doesn't know a life without him. And now she's left saying, 399 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:39.200 not only did he pass away, which is part of life, 400 00:20:39.240 --> 00:20:42.319 it's part of loving as you lose, but you lose 401 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:45.480