August 14, 2025 • 33 mins
Join us while we discuss the murder of Bud & June Runion. We’ll discuss their wonderful contributions to their community and lasting legacy as well as the events leading up to their murder. We’ll also discuss the investigation and case against their murderer.
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- Magnet Fishing
- Safe Trade Spots - OfferUp
- Buy and sell responsibly on Facebook Marketplace
- Trial for a 2015 Runion murder may be delayed again | 13wmaz.com
- After a magnet fisher reeled in a rifle from a creek, a Georgia couple's cold case murder ends with a guilty plea - CBS News
- Bud and June Runion missing: Bodies found in search for missing Ga. couple - CBS News
- Magnet Fisher Found Key Evidence 9 Years After Couple Was Allegedly Murdered
- Georgia Man Admits He Lured Elderly Couple with Craigslist Ad to Kill Them
- The charity work of couple Elrey 'Bud' and June Runion murdered buy Craigslist seller | Daily Mail Online
- Family of metro Atlanta couple killed in Telfair County reflect on man’s conviction in their deaths
- Accused Craigslist killer back in Telfair County court
- Craigslist Seller In Custody After Car-Buying Couple Vanishes | Inside Edition
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Hi.
Welcome to True Creeps, wherethe stories are true and the creeps
are real. We'll cover storiesfrom grotesque gore to the possibly
plausible paranormal tohorrifying history.
To tense and terrible truecrime and.
Everything else that goes bumpin the night. We're your hosts, Amanda.
And I'm Lindsay, and we wantyou to join us while we creep.
We cover mature topics.Listener discretion is advised. Hello,
(00:29):
everyone. Today we are goingto be talking about the tragic murders
of El Rey. He went by Bud andJune Runyon. This case started with
a couple heading out to buytheir dream car, and it ended in
a horrific murder. This casewas recommended by Stacey, one of
our patrons. So thanks, Stacy.It was a very interesting case to
research.
(00:50):
I appreciate that. I also likeit, particularly because there's
an overlap with one of Staceyand her husband's hobbies.
Yeah.
So I was like, oh,interesting. So we also got to look
into a little bit more aboutthat, which I liked.
Now we understand your hobby alittle bit more. It is very interesting.
It sounds fun, honestly. Sofirst, let's talk about who Bud and
June were, because they werethe loveliest of people.
(01:13):
They really did sound like it.
So many people had such greatthings to say about them, so we're
gonna try to condemn some ofit because they did so many good
things. Anyways, so there's awhole Facebook group that's dedicated
to their memory. Many of thepeople that were interviewed in various
news articles also sharedgreat stories with them. Bud served
in the Army's 1st CalvaryDivision in Vietnam. Bud met June,
(01:37):
who was a teacher at the time,at church in the 1970s. They were
married almost 40 years at thetime of their deaths. Wow. That's
a feat. You don't see thatvery often. Bud started a charity
called Bud's Bicycles, andwhat he would do is he would fix
up bikes for kids, and it wasfor kids that could really use them
who didn't have anything likethat. And a story that their daughter,
(02:01):
Brittany Patterson, had sharedis that her father was once driving
through Marietta, Georgia,before Christmas Eve years ago. She
didn't say which year. He hadspotted two young girls that were
going through a dumpster. Andso what he did is he went home and
he decided, I'm going to fixup two bikes that his daughters didn't
use anymore. He fixed them up,and he went and he delivered them
(02:23):
to the girls as gifts.
That's kind.
That's a special person. Whatthat ended up doing is it turned
into a charity. He enjoyeddoing it. So Much that it turned
into a charity. And thecharity was loosely run out of their
church in Marietta. The couplebuilt a shed in their backyard to
house all the bikes as theywere, like, getting them ready for
kids or getting ready for,like, a big donation day. Then the
(02:45):
donations eventually grew, andit included things like food, household
items, school supplies,clothes, blankets, Thanksgiving meals.
Like, anything you could thinkof that a family would need. They
were there for them, for theircommunity. So they were like the
food pantry place, but run outof their basement.
Yeah. They sounded like theywere very kind people who showed
(03:06):
up selflessly in theircommunity, which is really beautiful.
Cause you don't always hearabout that. Another memory that their
daughter shared about Bud wasthat every Saturday, they would go
to get donuts. She would gowith them. But oftentimes when she
was there, there was a guy whoshe didn't know, and her dad always
paid the bill, and she didn'treally think much of it. But later
(03:29):
on in life, she realized thatit was typically somebody who was
experiencing homelessness. Andher dad was just like, come in. Have
a meal with us. And didn'tmake it a thing. Right. It was like,
here's just a person. We'regonna sit and have a conversation
and exist with them. And it'snot just, here's money, go away.
It's, I'm gonna treat you likea person, and I'm gonna treat you
(03:50):
as though, like, why wouldn'tyou come sit at my table?
And that was when she was akid. He never even explained it.
He was just like, this is ourfriend. We're all gonna have donuts
together. Yeah, I love that.
And I love raising children tobe like, kindness is our default.
Yes.
So the timeline's a little bitmuddy, but from what we understand,
Bud and June ramped up theiroutreach in 1991, and then it increased
(04:13):
even more in 1996 when theyjoined up with a church friend.
They were a big part of theministry, too.
So we watched an interviewwith Bud and a reporter that was
on the Facebook group forthis. There was a reporter that was
talking to Bud, and he wasrecalling that in the year prior,
he wasn't able to give bikesto all the kids in their complex
(04:34):
that had wanted them. And,like, he was misting up. Like, it
affected him, because he waslike, I want to be able. Like, I
want every kid here to have abike. I don't want any kid to have
to not have that. It's just soapparent from everything you see
and hear about Bud and Junethat they truly did dedicate their
lives, and it was just such acore part of their person to care
(04:55):
for others. From giftingchildren's bikes to helping people
keep food on their tables,they were just good. Their daughter
Brittany shared that Junealways supported Bud's big ideas,
including his idea to find asimilar car to the one that he had
had when he returned fromVietnam. Brittany said he loved to
laugh and have fun. He alwaysliked classic cars, and we used to
(05:17):
go to car shows as kids. Afterretiring, Bud wanted to find and
purchase a car similar againto the one that he had when he got
back from Vietnam. The searchfor this car turns out in this completely
horrific and unexpected way.And that's really what we're going
to talk about today.
So let's talk about whatexactly happened. Bud was looking
for his old car, right? Hewanted a car as similar as he could
(05:39):
find it. What he had had whenhe came back from Vietnam was a 1966
Mustang. And he actuallypurchased it while he was still in
the army after he returnedfrom the Vietnam War. And he just
really wanted another one. Hewas like, I'm retired now. And, you
know, like, that was like ahigh point in his life getting, you
know, a really cool car at thetime. So I see it, right?
It's also a hot car. I'm gonnajust say it. It's gorgeous. Yeah.
(06:03):
So In January of 2015, he putout an ad on Craigslist for a car
similar to what he had hadbefore. At the time, Bud was 69 and
June was 66. The couple wassuper excited when they received
a response to their ad.Someone was selling a car, like what
they were looking for. Theonly thing was the car was a little
far away and it was in McRae,which is about 183 miles away, or
(06:27):
three hours of travel timefrom where they lived. So they're
like, you know what, let'sjust plan a little trip. Let's go
take a look at this car. Theyhad the intention of buying it. They
wanted to look at it, makesure everything's good, purchase
it. On Thursday, January 22ndof 2015, they left their home and
their champagne colored 2003GMC Envoy and they were heading out
(06:48):
to look at this car, hopefullypurchase it. They, though, had to
be back by the next daybecause they were supposed to babysit
their grandkids. And theirtrue plan was just head back right
after they bought the car. Sothree hours there, look at the car.
It shouldn't take terriblylong. Three hours home. Unfortunately,
they never showed up tobabysit. And that's when their daughters
knew something was wrong. Thatdefinitely wasn't like them. Their
(07:10):
daughters met with police toreport them missing, and they really
did everything they could.They were doing interviews, they
were cooperating withauthorities. They even made the Facebook
page to help get the word outto the community that their parents
were missing. And originallyit was called Find Bud and June Runyon.
Since their parents were superactive in the community, many people
showed up and did their bestto help. The family called hospitals,
(07:33):
various sheriff's offices inthe area, hotels, everything they
could think of, and they hadno luck. And then on their Facebook
page, they also shared thatBud had his icloud off and Find My
friends was not workingbecause there was no cell service.
So wherever they were, thephone wasn't going to help. They
also shared the at&t wouldn'trelease any information to them at
that time. So they were kindof at a standstill. They had no idea.
(07:56):
You know, like a three hour trip.
That'S a long distance tocheck between, you know, like, if
something happened on the waythere, on the way home.
In this situation, I'm sure itwas very frustrating that the phone
company wouldn't give themrecords, but. But I do think it's
a good practice to onlyrelease that information with a warrant
because you just never knowwhat's going on with people. And
in this situation, it'sconcerned daughters, but, like, it
(08:18):
could be a stalker, it couldbe an abusive family member. So I
think that it's. It's agenerally good policy, but still
infuriating. Yeah, I would befrustrated. Yeah, I would be pissed,
too. Like, I just want theinformation to find my parents. And
why won't you give this to me?Like, we have a good relationship.
Yeah. And on their Facebookgroup, you could.
(08:38):
Almost see the day by day, hour.
By hour play of what they weredoing, because they were posting
it for all of the communitywho loved them to stay up to date.
So on January 23rd, theyposted at the Facebook page that
Cobb county, their parents,home county, and the families never
informed McRae authoritiesthat Bud and June were missing. McCrae
was where they were. There waszero cross jurisdictional communication.
(09:02):
And it feels like at the veryleast, you should call the police
department or sheriff's officeor what you. To make sure that there's
not just some easy answer, butalso they could have investigated
sooner. So many people sharedthis on Facebook that it ended up
getting to the county whereMcRae is, which is Telfair County.
They ended up reaching out toCobb County Police Department themselves.
(09:25):
They're like, hey, we heardyou have a missing person that is
supposed to be here. Telfaircounty started searching the area.
And in a screenshot on theFacebook page, it showed that the
news confirmed that the cellphone data showed that Bud and June
did make it to McRae. And theygot there around 5:30pm The Thursday
that they had left. But thenthey were unable to ping the phones.
(09:47):
And so the Telfair CountySheriff's deputy searched the area
where their last phone callhad taken place, and that was made
to a burner phone. We alreadyhate it. I feel like very little
good things are going to comefrom a burner phone.
Yes.
They also noted that theburner phones signal had since moved
south. We tried to find a newsarticle for more information on that,
(10:09):
but it looks like a lot ofthem are just no longer available.
Because they were from localnews stations, they'll often take
down articles within a coupleyears. And that's even when things
are unsolved, which I findbewildering, especially in a world
where there's not always ahard copy equivalent. It would be
one thing if it was also in anewspaper. So there's like some record
of it somewhere, but it's likeyou literally just deleted it from
(10:30):
the record of the world.
Yeah, there's a ton of. We'lltalk about why it. It kind of got
more coverage later. But theyrefer to those first few articles
that are no longer availableanymore, which was very frustrating.
Now, the next day, Search andRescue continued to look in the area,
and they also used ahelicopter for their search. The
Georgia Bureau ofInvestigation, the gbi, issued a
(10:51):
BOLO for the couple on theircar the following Sunday. On January
25, news was shared that theTelfair police identified a suspect
and button June'sdisappearance. And their name was
Ronnie Adrian J. Towns, and hewas 28. And that is who Bud and June
had been communicating withregarding the Craigslist app. Now,
Bud's cell phone record showedthe last call was to a number linked
(11:13):
to the Craigslist ad, and thathappened to be Towns. So it's unclear
whether law enforcementreached out to Towns before or after
the news broke about theirdisappearance. And like things it
like really picking up more.But on January 25, towns voluntarily
went in for questioning. Andduring that questioning, the information
(11:34):
he provided was found to befalse and deceptive. Information
being false sounds like, hey,your facts don't line up. However
deceptive. That sounds a lotlike a Polygraph, which we're like,
I never really fully trust apolygraph as a solid determinant.
But we have some other links,like cell phone records here. Right.
Telfer County Sheriff ChrisStevenson said the Towns quote initially
(11:56):
denied having ever met them.
Interesting worrying,especially because there's a lot
more proof nowadays.
Yeah.
If you've met someone or not.
Yeah. We're talking about2015. It's not that long ago.
So later that same day,investigators determined the phone
records and cell tower datacontradicted what Towns had said
in his statements. They sawthat his phone was in contact with
(12:19):
Bud's phone. So you can't sayyou haven't met or talked to someone
if there's literally calls andcall records.
I will never understand howpeople in the 2000 and tens are still
doing dumb shit with cellphones and acting completely and
utterly shocked that lawenforcement can look up those records.
Look, we know what you canfind. We know what you can see. We
(12:40):
know what's available. Why?Why lie when you're gonna find out?
Right?
So law enforcement used someof the pings to narrow down where
to search for Bund. In June,both Towns and Bud's phones pinged
to the Same area near McRae.Towns phone actively placed him in
a rural area near a pond.Townes was placed under arrest later
(13:02):
that day for giving falsestatements and criminal attempt to
commit theft by deception. Sothey knew something in this transaction
was not right.
Well, also, they couldprobably see if he actually had that
car.
Exactly.
And like, that's pretty easy.
Surprise, surprise. No recordexists where he had that car. So
he was booked into the TelfairCounty Jail and he was being held
(13:24):
pending additional chargesrelated to Bud and June's disappearance.
At this point, their bodieshad not been found yet. Search efforts
continued on Monday the 26th,and included the Telfair County Sheriff's
Office, GBI volunteers, and ahelicopter search crew. So many different
ways of searching for them. Inthis area where the phones had pinged,
(13:46):
a helicopter flew over thatpond and they spotted Bud and June's
submerged GMC car. Now, thisarea, this pond was where? Kind of
near where Town's home was aswell. So it wasn't even that far
from where he lived. Lawenforcement and dive teams recovered
their vehicle from the pond,and then a short distance away from
(14:08):
the car, they found two bodiesthat they believed to be Bud and
June. Their bodies weretransported to the GBI crime lab,
where they were laterconfirmed to be the missing couple.
Autopsies later confirmed thatBud and June had Died of a gunshot
wound to the head. Once theirbodies were found and the news of
their death spread, there wasa memorial placed on their front
(14:30):
yard. It made me so sad seeingthe pictures from this.
Yeah, it included a flagflying at.
Half staff honoring Bud'smilitary service. And then also there
was a bike that one of theneighbors, Jamie Knowles, placed
below the flag to signifytheir charity work. People would
also visit the memorial andleave things outside. So there's
tons of flowers and littlegifts and just so many of them. Also,
(14:53):
just to note, authoritiesfound no evidence when they combed
through town's records andstuff that he ever owned a car like
the one that Bud was looking for.
I was just generally curiousas to what a car like this would
sell for. It's a used car. Howmuch could it be? But just the quickest
of Internet perusals, I see itranging from, like about 22,000 to
(15:18):
170,000. So it seems likedepending on the mileage and the
condition of the car, it'spossible that they were carrying
quite a bit of money.
Yeah.
So on January 28th, towns hadsome new charges added, and it was
malice murder, felony murder,armed robbery, and possession of
a firearm during thecommission of a felony. So let's
fast forward to March, andagain, we're in 2015, 50 prospective
(15:41):
jurors were summoned to serveon the grand jury, but fewer than
16 appeared on time and ready.Since exactly 16 jurors are needed,
the presiding judge told thesheriff to find the jurors who failed
to shell. The judge alsoinstructed the court clerk to supplement
the number of prospectivegrand jurors with people who have
(16:02):
been summoned to serve on atrial jury. From what we could see,
the clerk and her deputyreviewed the list of 150 prospective
jurors who had been summonedto appear the following day to serve
as trial jurors. Andultimately, two of those jurors ended
up serving on the grand jurythat indicted Towns. So it just sounds
like there was an unnecessarymess when they were trying to work
(16:22):
on this grand jury. The grandjury, which, again, we're in Telfair
county, indicted Towns,charging him with murder and armed
robbery. After this, the casewas delayed several times for various
reasons. The prosecutorsdecided to push for capital punishment,
which comes with a harshersentence. So we don't always talk
about the need for grandjuries, but indictment through grand
(16:43):
juries. It's different basedon different jurisdictions, but in
Georgia specifically, grandjuries are used for serious crimes,
including capital cases likethis one in 2017, Towns original
indictment was dismissed bythe Georgia Supreme Court. And they
said it was because ofproblematic grand jury selection.
And they said that the grandjury was improperly formed and were
(17:04):
not randomly chosen. They wereliterally picked at a hearing. The
clerk we talked about earliersaid she based her selections on
the assessment, on whether shehad already had the information needed
to quickly contact theprospective jurors and whether they
will be able to reportimmediately. So technically, it wasn't
fully random, and thisobviously contributed to additional
(17:25):
delays. So the next grandjury, which was properly formed and
random, indicted Towns again.Then the case was delayed for several
more reasons, including legalmotions, backlogs in the court, and
Covid, which caused even morebacklog. During all of these delays,
more evidence and detailsstarted to pile up against Towns.
(17:45):
So then as all the delays arehappening on April 14th of 2024,
which just seems crazy becausethis case isn't terribly long ago,
but like, long enough that youthink it would have had a resolution
before 2024. But on April 14thof 2024, a magnet fisher in Telfair
County, Georgia, foundsomething tied to this case. The
Telfair county districtattorney was hoping to have this
(18:08):
trial In September of 2024, atthis moment, before this was found.
So new evidence makes thingssometimes take a little bit longer.
So just a quick tangent,though. What's Magnet Phishing? Per
phishingbooking.com Magnetfishing is exactly what it sounds
like. It's fishing, but withmagnets. Shocking, we know, but there
really isn't much more infothan that. You tie a rope or some
(18:31):
sort of strong line onto amagnet that is fairly strong. You
throw it into the water, andif you're lucky, it's going to stick
to something, hopefullysomething interesting that you can
collect and take home your newtreasure. So think about people that
have dropped keys down thedrain, or if you've lost a knife,
like while fishing, whilewalking on bridges and all kinds
(18:52):
of stuff.
But yeah, if you've droppedmetal in water, a magnet fisher's
gonna find it.
They are. So it's a verycommon thing. People lose metal objects
all the time. And that's kindof how magnet fishing got started.
Since then, it's developedinto a fully fledged hobby that's
part of environmentalism andalso part treasure hunting, because
you don't really know whatyou're gonna find. So why do people
(19:12):
do it? As we mentioned, partof it is ecological. You can remove
a ton of junk from the water,cleaning up your local river, making
a lake safer to swim in etc.You can also enjoy the thrill of
fishing without hurting anyfish, which I like the most. And
the main draw, though, is thepossibility of finding some sort
of treasure. We're talkingabout magnet fishing because something
(19:36):
related to this case wasfound. According to a press release,
the magnet fishermen pulleda.22 caliber rifle while they were
fishing in Horse Creek on OldPrison Camp Road. This matched the
caliber used in the murders,and it was fairly close. This was
less than a mile away fromwhere Bud and June's bodies had been
(19:56):
found years earlier. Themagnet fisher could not get ahold
of the sheriff's office. So wecalled Chris Steverson, the former
sheriff, who we had talkedabout before, and Chris was able
to get someone from thesheriff's office to send an agent
out to retrieve the gun.
Interesting.
How hard is it to get? I founda gun. Someone please come get it.
(20:17):
That's one thing that I saw,too, is, like, when you are magnet
fishing, a lot of stuff islike, you found it, it's yours. With
a select few items where youhave to report it. And depending
on, like, the county and thelaws in your area, most, if not all
guns were like, a number one.You have to report it. They send
someone out, they take thegun. Then the same magnet fishermen
continued to fish in thatarea. And on April 16th or 17th,
(20:42):
we've kind of seen both dates,they pulled out more evidence. This
time, they got a bag thatcontained the driver's license and
credit cards that belonged toBud in June.
I wonder if there was, like,change in there, too, and that's
why it picked up on the metaldetector, you know, because I was
like, what would draw it up?Yeah, whatever it may have been in
or.
I mean, some people put theircards in, like, metal wallet thingies.
(21:05):
Maybe.
That makes sense.
Also, they found a cell phonethat was believed to belong to Bud
and June. District AttorneyTim Vaughn of the Oconee Judicial
Circuit said it was a goodcase already, but this makes it an
even better case. The onlynegative thing, finding new evidence
can delay a trial.
Again.
So that's more waiting fortheir poor family.
(21:27):
Yes. Because again, also,remember, once evidence is uncovered,
both parties have to haveaccess to it. So it's not just like,
oh, the prosecution isbuilding their case. It's also that
the defense needs to be toreview it, test it, do whatever they
have to do as well. I justwant to point that out, because I
feel like when you think like,oh, hey, you're just gathering more
and more evidence, it's like,yeah, but everybody has to review
(21:48):
it. So within days of findingthe gun, officials executed a search
warrant at a home on the 400block of Webb County Cemetery Road
in McCrae, Georgia. Townslived on the same block prior to
his arrest. And once insidethe home, investigators recovered
additional evidence that wasthen further analyzed at the crime
lab. Amanda mentioned thisbefore, but just as a note, should
(22:11):
you decide to go magnetfishing, take a little peek at what
is, like, a mandatory handedover to law enforcement item so that
you know what you need to doin order to preserve any, like, crime
scene evidence and so that ourscene can be documented. Because
it's one thing to be like,hey, I want a weapon out of the water.
(22:31):
That's probably generally apositive thing. But in situations
like this, like, say, theperson who took it magnet fishing,
left it on the shore, and thensomebody else found it, it makes
it a little bit stranger to belike, where did this come from and
how did it get there versus,you know, the person who pulled it
out of the water? Being like,I can testify that I pulled this
out of the water, and.
(22:52):
I'm the only one that handledit for a moment. But also.
Yeah.
So if you find one, don'ttamper with it. Don't play with it,
obviously.
Yeah.
And then I would treat any gunas a crime scene.
Yeah.
Evidence of any kind.
So if I find a gun in water,I'm assuming someone put that gun
in the water purposefully.Purposefully. I'm not assuming, like,
(23:12):
oh, you know what? Theyprobably had a gun on their pocket
and they just dropped it intothe water and left it there.
In certain states. Yeah, Iknow. It's wild.
Even still, it's like anexpensive thing. Regardless of, like,
my feelings on guns, I'm like,I feel like people don't want to
lose their expensive items.
But anywho, there's a lot ofstupid people that have guns here.
Fair.
But anyways, yeah. Try topreserve it like it's potential evidence.
(23:36):
And I did see something aboutdocumenting the scene if you pull
something like that, like,taking pictures and stuff.
Yeah. Like, what is around.Yeah, that makes sense. So In November
of 2024, Towns pled guilty sothat he could avoid the death penalty,
and he was sentenced to lifein prison without parole. Judge Sarah
wall said, you were sentencedon count one, malice murder, to life
(23:59):
without parole. You will spendthe balance of your life with the
department of corrections. Asto count five, malice murder, you
have been sentenced to lifewithout the possibility of parole.
It's so devastating that Budand June, we're like, we're gonna
take a quick little road trip,grab a piece of our younger years.
And then they lost their livesbecause somebody was just fucking
awful.
(24:20):
Yeah.
So woof. I feel like it's oneof those things where, like, there
was a time when you were like,you don't go to people off the Internet
and buy things. But that is socommonplace now. Right? Like, it's
just like, it's a part of howwe interact with the world. It used
to be that people would go to,like, specific auctions or flea markets
or yard sales, and that's howyou really bought, like, used items
like that. Or you would go to.It would be like a consignment or
(24:41):
car show for, like, vintagecars and stuff. But, like, now most
people are selling things ononline marketplaces where you can
sell used things. And whetherit's Craigslist or Facebook marketplace
or something else similar,like, it's just a part of the world
now. So we're going to justtalk about a couple online marketplace
shopping tips. So Harry Huck,who runs a private investigation
company, says that you shouldbe very leery of Craigslist because
(25:03):
you, quote, you don't know whoyou're talking to.
That's any online.
For the most part, yes, I willsay Craigslist feels like the shadiest
through and through.
I only think of free animalsand, like, dog fighters on there.
Yeah, I mean, I did buy. I wascounting typewriters. I bought at
least one from. There could bemore than that. I think the rest
I've gotten elsewhere. So, perHarry, the first thing you should
(25:25):
do is verify who you're buyingthe products from, have them call
you a few times, and have themsend a photo of themselves with the
product. So this way you canprove that they have it, that they
are who they say they are, andthen also that they're not calling
you from different numbers sothat you actually do have their phone
number. He also says, don'tbring cash. You can always make an
(25:46):
ATM withdrawal. So you canalways go look at the whatever you're
gonna buy from that person andthen make a decision and be like,
okay, I'm gonna go get cashnow. You don't have to show up with
a large amount of money onyou. And then lastly, always meet
someplace as public as you canbe where there's gonna be a lot of
people around. If you'rehaving to meet in a parking lot,
make sure you're meeting therewhen the businesses are open so it's
(26:07):
not empty.
And closer to the front door.Also, a couple other tips. When using
an online marketplace, look upthe seller's reviews. When possible,
read the actual reviews andmake sure that they don't sound like
they're bots or they're fakeas well. Cause sometimes you'll see
like the same review like 50times. And you're like, they didn't
say that 50 times. Funnyenough, Mike likes to build computers.
(26:28):
That's his hobby. He lovesdoing it. So he's like, I'll just
start selling them. Because,like, what are they doing here? I
build it for fun and then itjust sits here. So he started selling
them and he was really excitedbecause someone messaged him, wanted
it, his first one. And I'mlike, oh, cool. Like, where are you
meeting them? Like, I want allthe information, what their name,
their Facebook profile,everything. And so I take his phone,
I look at it and I was like,honey, no. Like, I don't want you
(26:50):
to die. And he's like, what?And I was like, this is a fake account.
It was created earlier. Theyhave no reviews, no buying anything.
Like, this is wrong. They areprobably gonna steal the computer
from you. Please don't go.
Yeah.
So he messaged them foradditional. I forget what I told
him to ask. I had him ask acouple more follow up questions and
stuff. They stoppedresponding. So I was like, be cautious.
(27:12):
Look at everything I. Before Isell or buy something on something
like that, I look at theirprofile and I'm like, are these real
pictures of someone? How longhas their profile been established?
Are they tagged in anyone'sphotos or things? If it's available,
take a look. Are they a realperson or not?
Yeah.
Now, if it seems like a dealis too good to be true, it probably
is. So use caution. AndFacebook specifically has tips when
(27:36):
buying or selling cars that wesaw too. Get a vehicle history report
and arrange for a carinspection before buying. Personally,
I've done that before when Ibought my first car as a teenager
and had them meet me at a shopand I had the shop do a once over.
So, like it's public, thepeople are.
There and they could be like,this is a legit car or this is, you
(27:56):
know, gonna break in fivedays. Also, never send a deposit
to hold an item that is wrong.It's shady, especially from individual
sellers that aren't like averified online store. So like, if
it had like a brick and mortarplace, you could go.
There, you could figure itout. Yeah. Or if it's like a local
artist or something and you'reBuying some of their art and you're
(28:17):
like, oh, I'll do local pickupas opposed to getting it shipped.
Exactly. Also, like you said,meet in public spaces. And what I
saw online is there's a placecalled safetradespots.com I didn't
know that this was a thing.Like, I've seen those signs for it,
but I didn't know how to findthem. You go to safetradespots.com,
you put in your zip code andit has a list of safe meeting spots.
(28:37):
In my zip code, it had aparticular police station that had,
like, an area set up for it.
That's cool.
Yeah, I thought it was cool.So, like, Offerup even made some
signs for these spots and itsays it's a community meetup spot
for Internet purchases. A fewthat I saw on there when I was just
putting in random zip codesare bank lobbies. Oh, the entrances
of particular stores andplaces like that where there's going
(29:01):
to be a bunch of cameras, likein the parking lot and inside.
Yeah. I wouldn't even thinkabout that.
Right.
I think I would probably belike, let's meet at a coffee shop.
Like, let's meet at a placewhere, like, people are sitting and
aware and are going to be veryuncomfortable if you try to murder
me.
Yeah. But I like the idea oflike, yeah, bank is going to have
a ton of cameras outside andinside their little lobby area. Or
(29:23):
a big retail store. Like, whenyou park up front, you walk in, there's
going to be various cameras.
Yeah.
Facebook also allows for youto make a meetup plan now in Marketplace,
which I thought was reallyhandy. So you both agree to a meetup
plan. So it's established inFacebook if something happens.
Oh, I like that.
Now, when you are meeting upfrom any of these places, you always
(29:45):
want to tell someone whereyou're going. And if possible, don't
go alone. Share your locationon your phone if you are comfortable
with that, with someone thatyou trust so that they can monitor
where you are during that. Andalways give them a heads up, like,
I just finished. Everything'sgood. Call them verbally, though,
not text. Just in case.
Yes.
Never bring extra cash ifthat's the only way to pay. Bring
(30:08):
only the exact amount.
And also, we live in a Venmoworld now, baby.
Yeah.
Most people, if you're sellingon Facebook, they should accept Venmo
or paypal or something like adigital currency of some sort. You
don't have to be carrying asum of money and that you're going
to have to send it to somebodywith an account in something.
Yeah. So when possible, useone of those instead, obviously.
(30:29):
But if you know of a funsafety tip that you do when you buy
or sell on any of thesemarketplaces, feel free to add it
to our episode art if you wantto comment on it and share it with.
Others or in the bat bonfire. Yeah.
Because I think that this isso common nowadays and this is a
common way to buy a ton ofdifferent things and a lot of people
(30:50):
build their businesses off ofthese marketplaces now.
Yes.
So it's a good thing. But alsoyou want to be cautious and share
best practices.
Yeah. It's a good thing to buythings used in the world because
we don't always need thenewest thing. And if there's a good
version, like let's not keepjust making stuff, like let's reuse
stuff. That's still good.
(31:10):
Yeah.
But we're going to round outthe episode with another. Thank you
for Stacy for recommendingthis case. Very interesting. If you
have a case you'd like us tocover, feel free to send them our
way. We'd love a good episodesuggestion. We have a running list.
Always going to. And if youhave a listener story, and we mean
any story, kind of spooky,little weird, unnerved.
(31:32):
Do you have a ghost?
Is there a man in your walls?
Hope not.
Did you have a gut feeling andthen you were fucking right. Did
you meet a sketch person offof Facebook Marketplace or Facebook
generally.
Oh my gosh. Those stories are.I don't know if you have the TikToks
and stuff of like FacebookMarketplace chat histories. Oh no.
Oh, they're. They're something.
(31:53):
But anywho, any weird story,we want it. I don't think we've turned
a story away yet. We lovethem. One of our favorite episodes
of the year, we are trying toget those by mid to late September.
We haven't put an exact dateon it yet, but get those stories
in sooner rather than later sowe can get them all set. Sometimes
we'll ask you follow upquestions too. You can send them
via your own voice. Youtelling your story. We love it. But
(32:15):
also if you're like, I just donot want, I don't want to say it
myself. I want you guys toread it. We will. So you can also
send us it in writing. If youhead to our website, you can click
submit your story and it'll bethere. Also, should you be existing
on an application of some sortwhere you can leave a review, we
would so thoroughly appreciateit. It helps us grow. It helps other
(32:36):
people find us. I know thatyou can leave them on Audible, Apple
podcasts and then you can alsodo like a Facebook review too, if
you do any of these things. Ifyou take a screenshot and you email
it to us, we'll send you asticker as a little thank you. But
that rounds out our end ofepisode housekeeping. This was a
really interesting case today.
Though, and we learned a lotabout magnet fishing.
We did.
Which, like I knew what itwas, but it just sounds more exciting
(32:57):
now.
It does sound more exciting.
Not for the bad purposesobviously, but like when we were
looking through it, all thecool stuff people have found that
were not related to murder.
Yes, yes. And with that, havea good weekend.
Thanks for creeping with us.
Thanks for listening and asalways, a special thank you to our
patrons who support support usvia Patreon.
(33:18):
Please see the link in ourshow notes to learn more about how
you yes, you can begin tohaunt the dump, guard vortexes, or
even become a scorching Sasquatch.
Also in our show notes you canfind the link to our website, more
information on our sources,our social media handles and our
merch store.
We'd love for you to keepcreeping with us, so if you like
this episode, pleasesubscribe, rate, review and share
(33:40):
the show with your fellowcreeps and or ghosts.
I beg of you. If you're just agenerally curious person, I cannot
suggest the magnet fishingReddit enough.
Hi.
Welcome to True Creeps, wherethe stories are true and the creeps
are real. We'll cover storiesfrom grotesque gore to the possibly
plausible paranormal tohorrifying history.
To tense and terrible truecrime and.
Everything else that goes bumpin the night. We're your hosts, Amanda.
And I'm Lindsay, and we wantyou to join us while we creep.
We cover mature topics.Listener discretion is advised. Hello,
(00:29):
everyone. Today we are goingto be talking about the tragic murders
of El Rey. He went by Bud andJune Runyon. This case started with
a couple heading out to buytheir dream car, and it ended in
a horrific murder. This casewas recommended by Stacey, one of
our patrons. So thanks, Stacy.It was a very interesting case to
research.
(00:50):
I appreciate that. I also likeit, particularly because there's
an overlap with one of Staceyand her husband's hobbies.
Yeah.
So I was like, oh,interesting. So we also got to look
into a little bit more aboutthat, which I liked.
Now we understand your hobby alittle bit more. It is very interesting.
It sounds fun, honestly. Sofirst, let's talk about who Bud and
June were, because they werethe loveliest of people.
(01:13):
They really did sound like it.
So many people had such greatthings to say about them, so we're
gonna try to condemn some ofit because they did so many good
things. Anyways, so there's awhole Facebook group that's dedicated
to their memory. Many of thepeople that were interviewed in various
news articles also sharedgreat stories with them. Bud served
in the Army's 1st CalvaryDivision in Vietnam. Bud met June,
(01:37):
who was a teacher at the time,at church in the 1970s. They were
married almost 40 years at thetime of their deaths. Wow. That's
a feat. You don't see thatvery often. Bud started a charity
called Bud's Bicycles, andwhat he would do is he would fix
up bikes for kids, and it wasfor kids that could really use them
who didn't have anything likethat. And a story that their daughter,
(02:01):
Brittany Patterson, had sharedis that her father was once driving
through Marietta, Georgia,before Christmas Eve years ago. She
didn't say which year. He hadspotted two young girls that were
going through a dumpster. Andso what he did is he went home and
he decided, I'm going to fixup two bikes that his daughters didn't
use anymore. He fixed them up,and he went and he delivered them
(02:23):
to the girls as gifts.
That's kind.
That's a special person. Whatthat ended up doing is it turned
into a charity. He enjoyeddoing it. So Much that it turned
into a charity. And thecharity was loosely run out of their
church in Marietta. The couplebuilt a shed in their backyard to
house all the bikes as theywere, like, getting them ready for
kids or getting ready for,like, a big donation day. Then the
(02:45):
donations eventually grew, andit included things like food, household
items, school supplies,clothes, blankets, Thanksgiving meals.
Like, anything you could thinkof that a family would need. They
were there for them, for theircommunity. So they were like the
food pantry place, but run outof their basement.
Yeah. They sounded like theywere very kind people who showed
(03:06):
up selflessly in theircommunity, which is really beautiful.
Cause you don't always hearabout that. Another memory that their
daughter shared about Bud wasthat every Saturday, they would go
to get donuts. She would gowith them. But oftentimes when she
was there, there was a guy whoshe didn't know, and her dad always
paid the bill, and she didn'treally think much of it. But later
(03:29):
on in life, she realized thatit was typically somebody who was
experiencing homelessness. Andher dad was just like, come in. Have
a meal with us. And didn'tmake it a thing. Right. It was like,
here's just a person. We'regonna sit and have a conversation
and exist with them. And it'snot just, here's money, go away.
It's, I'm gonna treat you likea person, and I'm gonna treat you
(03:50):
as though, like, why wouldn'tyou come sit at my table?
And that was when she was akid. He never even explained it.
He was just like, this is ourfriend. We're all gonna have donuts
together. Yeah, I love that.
And I love raising children tobe like, kindness is our default.
Yes.
So the timeline's a little bitmuddy, but from what we understand,
Bud and June ramped up theiroutreach in 1991, and then it increased
(04:13):
even more in 1996 when theyjoined up with a church friend.
They were a big part of theministry, too.
So we watched an interviewwith Bud and a reporter that was
on the Facebook group forthis. There was a reporter that was
talking to Bud, and he wasrecalling that in the year prior,
he wasn't able to give bikesto all the kids in their complex
(04:34):
that had wanted them. And,like, he was misting up. Like, it
affected him, because he waslike, I want to be able. Like, I
want every kid here to have abike. I don't want any kid to have
to not have that. It's just soapparent from everything you see
and hear about Bud and Junethat they truly did dedicate their
lives, and it was just such acore part of their person to care
(04:55):
for others. From giftingchildren's bikes to helping people
keep food on their tables,they were just good. Their daughter
Brittany shared that Junealways supported Bud's big ideas,
including his idea to find asimilar car to the one that he had
had when he returned fromVietnam. Brittany said he loved to
laugh and have fun. He alwaysliked classic cars, and we used to
(05:17):
go to car shows as kids. Afterretiring, Bud wanted to find and
purchase a car similar againto the one that he had when he got
back from Vietnam. The searchfor this car turns out in this completely
horrific and unexpected way.And that's really what we're going
to talk about today.
So let's talk about whatexactly happened. Bud was looking
for his old car, right? Hewanted a car as similar as he could
(05:39):
find it. What he had had whenhe came back from Vietnam was a 1966
Mustang. And he actuallypurchased it while he was still in
the army after he returnedfrom the Vietnam War. And he just
really wanted another one. Hewas like, I'm retired now. And, you
know, like, that was like ahigh point in his life getting, you
know, a really cool car at thetime. So I see it, right?
It's also a hot car. I'm gonnajust say it. It's gorgeous. Yeah.
(06:03):
So In January of 2015, he putout an ad on Craigslist for a car
similar to what he had hadbefore. At the time, Bud was 69 and
June was 66. The couple wassuper excited when they received
a response to their ad.Someone was selling a car, like what
they were looking for. Theonly thing was the car was a little
far away and it was in McRae,which is about 183 miles away, or
(06:27):
three hours of travel timefrom where they lived. So they're
like, you know what, let'sjust plan a little trip. Let's go
take a look at this car. Theyhad the intention of buying it. They
wanted to look at it, makesure everything's good, purchase
it. On Thursday, January 22ndof 2015, they left their home and
their champagne colored 2003GMC Envoy and they were heading out
(06:48):
to look at this car, hopefullypurchase it. They, though, had to
be back by the next daybecause they were supposed to babysit
their grandkids. And theirtrue plan was just head back right
after they bought the car. Sothree hours there, look at the car.
It shouldn't take terriblylong. Three hours home. Unfortunately,
they never showed up tobabysit. And that's when their daughters
knew something was wrong. Thatdefinitely wasn't like them. Their
(07:10):
daughters met with police toreport them missing, and they really
did everything they could.They were doing interviews, they
were cooperating withauthorities. They even made the Facebook
page to help get the word outto the community that their parents
were missing. And originallyit was called Find Bud and June Runyon.
Since their parents were superactive in the community, many people
showed up and did their bestto help. The family called hospitals,
(07:33):
various sheriff's offices inthe area, hotels, everything they
could think of, and they hadno luck. And then on their Facebook
page, they also shared thatBud had his icloud off and Find My
friends was not workingbecause there was no cell service.
So wherever they were, thephone wasn't going to help. They
also shared the at&t wouldn'trelease any information to them at
that time. So they were kindof at a standstill. They had no idea.
(07:56):
You know, like a three hour trip.
That'S a long distance tocheck between, you know, like, if
something happened on the waythere, on the way home.
In this situation, I'm sure itwas very frustrating that the phone
company wouldn't give themrecords, but. But I do think it's
a good practice to onlyrelease that information with a warrant
because you just never knowwhat's going on with people. And
in this situation, it'sconcerned daughters, but, like, it
(08:18):
could be a stalker, it couldbe an abusive family member. So I
think that it's. It's agenerally good policy, but still
infuriating. Yeah, I would befrustrated. Yeah, I would be pissed,
too. Like, I just want theinformation to find my parents. And
why won't you give this to me?Like, we have a good relationship.
Yeah. And on their Facebookgroup, you could.
(08:38):
Almost see the day by day, hour.
By hour play of what they weredoing, because they were posting
it for all of the communitywho loved them to stay up to date.
So on January 23rd, theyposted at the Facebook page that
Cobb county, their parents,home county, and the families never
informed McRae authoritiesthat Bud and June were missing. McCrae
was where they were. There waszero cross jurisdictional communication.
(09:02):
And it feels like at the veryleast, you should call the police
department or sheriff's officeor what you. To make sure that there's
not just some easy answer, butalso they could have investigated
sooner. So many people sharedthis on Facebook that it ended up
getting to the county whereMcRae is, which is Telfair County.
They ended up reaching out toCobb County Police Department themselves.
(09:25):
They're like, hey, we heardyou have a missing person that is
supposed to be here. Telfaircounty started searching the area.
And in a screenshot on theFacebook page, it showed that the
news confirmed that the cellphone data showed that Bud and June
did make it to McRae. And theygot there around 5:30pm The Thursday
that they had left. But thenthey were unable to ping the phones.
(09:47):
And so the Telfair CountySheriff's deputy searched the area
where their last phone callhad taken place, and that was made
to a burner phone. We alreadyhate it. I feel like very little
good things are going to comefrom a burner phone.
Yes.
They also noted that theburner phones signal had since moved
south. We tried to find a newsarticle for more information on that,
(10:09):
but it looks like a lot ofthem are just no longer available.
Because they were from localnews stations, they'll often take
down articles within a coupleyears. And that's even when things
are unsolved, which I findbewildering, especially in a world
where there's not always ahard copy equivalent. It would be
one thing if it was also in anewspaper. So there's like some record
of it somewhere, but it's likeyou literally just deleted it from
(10:30):
the record of the world.
Yeah, there's a ton of. We'lltalk about why it. It kind of got
more coverage later. But theyrefer to those first few articles
that are no longer availableanymore, which was very frustrating.
Now, the next day, Search andRescue continued to look in the area,
and they also used ahelicopter for their search. The
Georgia Bureau ofInvestigation, the gbi, issued a
(10:51):
BOLO for the couple on theircar the following Sunday. On January
25, news was shared that theTelfair police identified a suspect
and button June'sdisappearance. And their name was
Ronnie Adrian J. Towns, and hewas 28. And that is who Bud and June
had been communicating withregarding the Craigslist app. Now,
Bud's cell phone record showedthe last call was to a number linked
(11:13):
to the Craigslist ad, and thathappened to be Towns. So it's unclear
whether law enforcementreached out to Towns before or after
the news broke about theirdisappearance. And like things it
like really picking up more.But on January 25, towns voluntarily
went in for questioning. Andduring that questioning, the information
(11:34):
he provided was found to befalse and deceptive. Information
being false sounds like, hey,your facts don't line up. However
deceptive. That sounds a lotlike a Polygraph, which we're like,
I never really fully trust apolygraph as a solid determinant.
But we have some other links,like cell phone records here. Right.
Telfer County Sheriff ChrisStevenson said the Towns quote initially
(11:56):
denied having ever met them.
Interesting worrying,especially because there's a lot
more proof nowadays.
Yeah.
If you've met someone or not.
Yeah. We're talking about2015. It's not that long ago.
So later that same day,investigators determined the phone
records and cell tower datacontradicted what Towns had said
in his statements. They sawthat his phone was in contact with
(12:19):
Bud's phone. So you can't sayyou haven't met or talked to someone
if there's literally calls andcall records.
I will never understand howpeople in the 2000 and tens are still
doing dumb shit with cellphones and acting completely and
utterly shocked that lawenforcement can look up those records.
Look, we know what you canfind. We know what you can see. We
(12:40):
know what's available. Why?Why lie when you're gonna find out?
Right?
So law enforcement used someof the pings to narrow down where
to search for Bund. In June,both Towns and Bud's phones pinged
to the Same area near McRae.Towns phone actively placed him in
a rural area near a pond.Townes was placed under arrest later
(13:02):
that day for giving falsestatements and criminal attempt to
commit theft by deception. Sothey knew something in this transaction
was not right.
Well, also, they couldprobably see if he actually had that
car.
Exactly.
And like, that's pretty easy.
Surprise, surprise. No recordexists where he had that car. So
he was booked into the TelfairCounty Jail and he was being held
(13:24):
pending additional chargesrelated to Bud and June's disappearance.
At this point, their bodieshad not been found yet. Search efforts
continued on Monday the 26th,and included the Telfair County Sheriff's
Office, GBI volunteers, and ahelicopter search crew. So many different
ways of searching for them. Inthis area where the phones had pinged,
(13:46):
a helicopter flew over thatpond and they spotted Bud and June's
submerged GMC car. Now, thisarea, this pond was where? Kind of
near where Town's home was aswell. So it wasn't even that far
from where he lived. Lawenforcement and dive teams recovered
their vehicle from the pond,and then a short distance away from
(14:08):
the car, they found two bodiesthat they believed to be Bud and
June. Their bodies weretransported to the GBI crime lab,
where they were laterconfirmed to be the missing couple.
Autopsies later confirmed thatBud and June had Died of a gunshot
wound to the head. Once theirbodies were found and the news of
their death spread, there wasa memorial placed on their front
(14:30):
yard. It made me so sad seeingthe pictures from this.
Yeah, it included a flagflying at.
Half staff honoring Bud'smilitary service. And then also there
was a bike that one of theneighbors, Jamie Knowles, placed
below the flag to signifytheir charity work. People would
also visit the memorial andleave things outside. So there's
tons of flowers and littlegifts and just so many of them. Also,
(14:53):
just to note, authoritiesfound no evidence when they combed
through town's records andstuff that he ever owned a car like
the one that Bud was looking for.
I was just generally curiousas to what a car like this would
sell for. It's a used car. Howmuch could it be? But just the quickest
of Internet perusals, I see itranging from, like about 22,000 to
(15:18):
170,000. So it seems likedepending on the mileage and the
condition of the car, it'spossible that they were carrying
quite a bit of money.
Yeah.
So on January 28th, towns hadsome new charges added, and it was
malice murder, felony murder,armed robbery, and possession of
a firearm during thecommission of a felony. So let's
fast forward to March, andagain, we're in 2015, 50 prospective
(15:41):
jurors were summoned to serveon the grand jury, but fewer than
16 appeared on time and ready.Since exactly 16 jurors are needed,
the presiding judge told thesheriff to find the jurors who failed
to shell. The judge alsoinstructed the court clerk to supplement
the number of prospectivegrand jurors with people who have
(16:02):
been summoned to serve on atrial jury. From what we could see,
the clerk and her deputyreviewed the list of 150 prospective
jurors who had been summonedto appear the following day to serve
as trial jurors. Andultimately, two of those jurors ended
up serving on the grand jurythat indicted Towns. So it just sounds
like there was an unnecessarymess when they were trying to work
(16:22):
on this grand jury. The grandjury, which, again, we're in Telfair
county, indicted Towns,charging him with murder and armed
robbery. After this, the casewas delayed several times for various
reasons. The prosecutorsdecided to push for capital punishment,
which comes with a harshersentence. So we don't always talk
about the need for grandjuries, but indictment through grand
(16:43):
juries. It's different basedon different jurisdictions, but in
Georgia specifically, grandjuries are used for serious crimes,
including capital cases likethis one in 2017, Towns original
indictment was dismissed bythe Georgia Supreme Court. And they
said it was because ofproblematic grand jury selection.
And they said that the grandjury was improperly formed and were
(17:04):
not randomly chosen. They wereliterally picked at a hearing. The
clerk we talked about earliersaid she based her selections on
the assessment, on whether shehad already had the information needed
to quickly contact theprospective jurors and whether they
will be able to reportimmediately. So technically, it wasn't
fully random, and thisobviously contributed to additional
(17:25):
delays. So the next grandjury, which was properly formed and
random, indicted Towns again.Then the case was delayed for several
more reasons, including legalmotions, backlogs in the court, and
Covid, which caused even morebacklog. During all of these delays,
more evidence and detailsstarted to pile up against Towns.
(17:45):
So then as all the delays arehappening on April 14th of 2024,
which just seems crazy becausethis case isn't terribly long ago,
but like, long enough that youthink it would have had a resolution
before 2024. But on April 14thof 2024, a magnet fisher in Telfair
County, Georgia, foundsomething tied to this case. The
Telfair county districtattorney was hoping to have this
(18:08):
trial In September of 2024, atthis moment, before this was found.
So new evidence makes thingssometimes take a little bit longer.
So just a quick tangent,though. What's Magnet Phishing? Per
phishingbooking.com Magnetfishing is exactly what it sounds
like. It's fishing, but withmagnets. Shocking, we know, but there
really isn't much more infothan that. You tie a rope or some
(18:31):
sort of strong line onto amagnet that is fairly strong. You
throw it into the water, andif you're lucky, it's going to stick
to something, hopefullysomething interesting that you can
collect and take home your newtreasure. So think about people that
have dropped keys down thedrain, or if you've lost a knife,
like while fishing, whilewalking on bridges and all kinds
(18:52):
of stuff.
But yeah, if you've droppedmetal in water, a magnet fisher's
gonna find it.
They are. So it's a verycommon thing. People lose metal objects
all the time. And that's kindof how magnet fishing got started.
Since then, it's developedinto a fully fledged hobby that's
part of environmentalism andalso part treasure hunting, because
you don't really know whatyou're gonna find. So why do people
(19:12):
do it? As we mentioned, partof it is ecological. You can remove
a ton of junk from the water,cleaning up your local river, making
a lake safer to swim in etc.You can also enjoy the thrill of
fishing without hurting anyfish, which I like the most. And
the main draw, though, is thepossibility of finding some sort
of treasure. We're talkingabout magnet fishing because something
(19:36):
related to this case wasfound. According to a press release,
the magnet fishermen pulleda.22 caliber rifle while they were
fishing in Horse Creek on OldPrison Camp Road. This matched the
caliber used in the murders,and it was fairly close. This was
less than a mile away fromwhere Bud and June's bodies had been
(19:56):
found years earlier. Themagnet fisher could not get ahold
of the sheriff's office. So wecalled Chris Steverson, the former
sheriff, who we had talkedabout before, and Chris was able
to get someone from thesheriff's office to send an agent
out to retrieve the gun.
Interesting.
How hard is it to get? I founda gun. Someone please come get it.
(20:17):
That's one thing that I saw,too, is, like, when you are magnet
fishing, a lot of stuff islike, you found it, it's yours. With
a select few items where youhave to report it. And depending
on, like, the county and thelaws in your area, most, if not all
guns were like, a number one.You have to report it. They send
someone out, they take thegun. Then the same magnet fishermen
continued to fish in thatarea. And on April 16th or 17th,
(20:42):
we've kind of seen both dates,they pulled out more evidence. This
time, they got a bag thatcontained the driver's license and
credit cards that belonged toBud in June.
I wonder if there was, like,change in there, too, and that's
why it picked up on the metaldetector, you know, because I was
like, what would draw it up?Yeah, whatever it may have been in
or.
I mean, some people put theircards in, like, metal wallet thingies.
(21:05):
Maybe.
That makes sense.
Also, they found a cell phonethat was believed to belong to Bud
and June. District AttorneyTim Vaughn of the Oconee Judicial
Circuit said it was a goodcase already, but this makes it an
even better case. The onlynegative thing, finding new evidence
can delay a trial.
Again.
So that's more waiting fortheir poor family.
(21:27):
Yes. Because again, also,remember, once evidence is uncovered,
both parties have to haveaccess to it. So it's not just like,
oh, the prosecution isbuilding their case. It's also that
the defense needs to be toreview it, test it, do whatever they
have to do as well. I justwant to point that out, because I
feel like when you think like,oh, hey, you're just gathering more
and more evidence, it's like,yeah, but everybody has to review
(21:48):
it. So within days of findingthe gun, officials executed a search
warrant at a home on the 400block of Webb County Cemetery Road
in McCrae, Georgia. Townslived on the same block prior to
his arrest. And once insidethe home, investigators recovered
additional evidence that wasthen further analyzed at the crime
lab. Amanda mentioned thisbefore, but just as a note, should
(22:11):
you decide to go magnetfishing, take a little peek at what
is, like, a mandatory handedover to law enforcement item so that
you know what you need to doin order to preserve any, like, crime
scene evidence and so that ourscene can be documented. Because
it's one thing to be like,hey, I want a weapon out of the water.
(22:31):
That's probably generally apositive thing. But in situations
like this, like, say, theperson who took it magnet fishing,
left it on the shore, and thensomebody else found it, it makes
it a little bit stranger to belike, where did this come from and
how did it get there versus,you know, the person who pulled it
out of the water? Being like,I can testify that I pulled this
out of the water, and.
(22:52):
I'm the only one that handledit for a moment. But also.
Yeah.
So if you find one, don'ttamper with it. Don't play with it,
obviously.
Yeah.
And then I would treat any gunas a crime scene.
Yeah.
Evidence of any kind.
So if I find a gun in water,I'm assuming someone put that gun
in the water purposefully.Purposefully. I'm not assuming, like,
(23:12):
oh, you know what? Theyprobably had a gun on their pocket
and they just dropped it intothe water and left it there.
In certain states. Yeah, Iknow. It's wild.
Even still, it's like anexpensive thing. Regardless of, like,
my feelings on guns, I'm like,I feel like people don't want to
lose their expensive items.
But anywho, there's a lot ofstupid people that have guns here.
Fair.
But anyways, yeah. Try topreserve it like it's potential evidence.
(23:36):
And I did see something aboutdocumenting the scene if you pull
something like that, like,taking pictures and stuff.
Yeah. Like, what is around.Yeah, that makes sense. So In November
of 2024, Towns pled guilty sothat he could avoid the death penalty,
and he was sentenced to lifein prison without parole. Judge Sarah
wall said, you were sentencedon count one, malice murder, to life
(23:59):
without parole. You will spendthe balance of your life with the
department of corrections. Asto count five, malice murder, you
have been sentenced to lifewithout the possibility of parole.
It's so devastating that Budand June, we're like, we're gonna
take a quick little road trip,grab a piece of our younger years.
And then they lost their livesbecause somebody was just fucking
awful.
(24:20):
Yeah.
So woof. I feel like it's oneof those things where, like, there
was a time when you were like,you don't go to people off the Internet
and buy things. But that is socommonplace now. Right? Like, it's
just like, it's a part of howwe interact with the world. It used
to be that people would go to,like, specific auctions or flea markets
or yard sales, and that's howyou really bought, like, used items
like that. Or you would go to.It would be like a consignment or
(24:41):
car show for, like, vintagecars and stuff. But, like, now most
people are selling things ononline marketplaces where you can
sell used things. And whetherit's Craigslist or Facebook marketplace
or something else similar,like, it's just a part of the world
now. So we're going to justtalk about a couple online marketplace
shopping tips. So Harry Huck,who runs a private investigation
company, says that you shouldbe very leery of Craigslist because
(25:03):
you, quote, you don't know whoyou're talking to.
That's any online.
For the most part, yes, I willsay Craigslist feels like the shadiest
through and through.
I only think of free animalsand, like, dog fighters on there.
Yeah, I mean, I did buy. I wascounting typewriters. I bought at
least one from. There could bemore than that. I think the rest
I've gotten elsewhere. So, perHarry, the first thing you should
(25:25):
do is verify who you're buyingthe products from, have them call
you a few times, and have themsend a photo of themselves with the
product. So this way you canprove that they have it, that they
are who they say they are, andthen also that they're not calling
you from different numbers sothat you actually do have their phone
number. He also says, don'tbring cash. You can always make an
(25:46):
ATM withdrawal. So you canalways go look at the whatever you're
gonna buy from that person andthen make a decision and be like,
okay, I'm gonna go get cashnow. You don't have to show up with
a large amount of money onyou. And then lastly, always meet
someplace as public as you canbe where there's gonna be a lot of
people around. If you'rehaving to meet in a parking lot,
make sure you're meeting therewhen the businesses are open so it's
(26:07):
not empty.
And closer to the front door.Also, a couple other tips. When using
an online marketplace, look upthe seller's reviews. When possible,
read the actual reviews andmake sure that they don't sound like
they're bots or they're fakeas well. Cause sometimes you'll see
like the same review like 50times. And you're like, they didn't
say that 50 times. Funnyenough, Mike likes to build computers.
(26:28):
That's his hobby. He lovesdoing it. So he's like, I'll just
start selling them. Because,like, what are they doing here? I
build it for fun and then itjust sits here. So he started selling
them and he was really excitedbecause someone messaged him, wanted
it, his first one. And I'mlike, oh, cool. Like, where are you
meeting them? Like, I want allthe information, what their name,
their Facebook profile,everything. And so I take his phone,
I look at it and I was like,honey, no. Like, I don't want you
(26:50):
to die. And he's like, what?And I was like, this is a fake account.
It was created earlier. Theyhave no reviews, no buying anything.
Like, this is wrong. They areprobably gonna steal the computer
from you. Please don't go.
Yeah.
So he messaged them foradditional. I forget what I told
him to ask. I had him ask acouple more follow up questions and
stuff. They stoppedresponding. So I was like, be cautious.
(27:12):
Look at everything I. Before Isell or buy something on something
like that, I look at theirprofile and I'm like, are these real
pictures of someone? How longhas their profile been established?
Are they tagged in anyone'sphotos or things? If it's available,
take a look. Are they a realperson or not?
Yeah.
Now, if it seems like a dealis too good to be true, it probably
is. So use caution. AndFacebook specifically has tips when
(27:36):
buying or selling cars that wesaw too. Get a vehicle history report
and arrange for a carinspection before buying. Personally,
I've done that before when Ibought my first car as a teenager
and had them meet me at a shopand I had the shop do a once over.
So, like it's public, thepeople are.
There and they could be like,this is a legit car or this is, you
(27:56):
know, gonna break in fivedays. Also, never send a deposit
to hold an item that is wrong.It's shady, especially from individual
sellers that aren't like averified online store. So like, if
it had like a brick and mortarplace, you could go.
There, you could figure itout. Yeah. Or if it's like a local
artist or something and you'reBuying some of their art and you're
(28:17):
like, oh, I'll do local pickupas opposed to getting it shipped.
Exactly. Also, like you said,meet in public spaces. And what I
saw online is there's a placecalled safetradespots.com I didn't
know that this was a thing.Like, I've seen those signs for it,
but I didn't know how to findthem. You go to safetradespots.com,
you put in your zip code andit has a list of safe meeting spots.
(28:37):
In my zip code, it had aparticular police station that had,
like, an area set up for it.
That's cool.
Yeah, I thought it was cool.So, like, Offerup even made some
signs for these spots and itsays it's a community meetup spot
for Internet purchases. A fewthat I saw on there when I was just
putting in random zip codesare bank lobbies. Oh, the entrances
of particular stores andplaces like that where there's going
(29:01):
to be a bunch of cameras, likein the parking lot and inside.
Yeah. I wouldn't even thinkabout that.
Right.
I think I would probably belike, let's meet at a coffee shop.
Like, let's meet at a placewhere, like, people are sitting and
aware and are going to be veryuncomfortable if you try to murder
me.
Yeah. But I like the idea oflike, yeah, bank is going to have
a ton of cameras outside andinside their little lobby area. Or
(29:23):
a big retail store. Like, whenyou park up front, you walk in, there's
going to be various cameras.
Yeah.
Facebook also allows for youto make a meetup plan now in Marketplace,
which I thought was reallyhandy. So you both agree to a meetup
plan. So it's established inFacebook if something happens.
Oh, I like that.
Now, when you are meeting upfrom any of these places, you always
(29:45):
want to tell someone whereyou're going. And if possible, don't
go alone. Share your locationon your phone if you are comfortable
with that, with someone thatyou trust so that they can monitor
where you are during that. Andalways give them a heads up, like,
I just finished. Everything'sgood. Call them verbally, though,
not text. Just in case.
Yes.
Never bring extra cash ifthat's the only way to pay. Bring
(30:08):
only the exact amount.
And also, we live in a Venmoworld now, baby.
Yeah.
Most people, if you're sellingon Facebook, they should accept Venmo
or paypal or something like adigital currency of some sort. You
don't have to be carrying asum of money and that you're going
to have to send it to somebodywith an account in something.
Yeah. So when possible, useone of those instead, obviously.
(30:29):
But if you know of a funsafety tip that you do when you buy
or sell on any of thesemarketplaces, feel free to add it
to our episode art if you wantto comment on it and share it with.
Others or in the bat bonfire. Yeah.
Because I think that this isso common nowadays and this is a
common way to buy a ton ofdifferent things and a lot of people
(30:50):
build their businesses off ofthese marketplaces now.
Yes.
So it's a good thing. But alsoyou want to be cautious and share
best practices.
Yeah. It's a good thing to buythings used in the world because
we don't always need thenewest thing. And if there's a good
version, like let's not keepjust making stuff, like let's reuse
stuff. That's still good.
(31:10):
Yeah.
But we're going to round outthe episode with another. Thank you
for Stacy for recommendingthis case. Very interesting. If you
have a case you'd like us tocover, feel free to send them our
way. We'd love a good episodesuggestion. We have a running list.
Always going to. And if youhave a listener story, and we mean
any story, kind of spooky,little weird, unnerved.
(31:32):
Do you have a ghost?
Is there a man in your walls?
Hope not.
Did you have a gut feeling andthen you were fucking right. Did
you meet a sketch person offof Facebook Marketplace or Facebook
generally.
Oh my gosh. Those stories are.I don't know if you have the TikToks
and stuff of like FacebookMarketplace chat histories. Oh no.
Oh, they're. They're something.
(31:53):
But anywho, any weird story,we want it. I don't think we've turned
a story away yet. We lovethem. One of our favorite episodes
of the year, we are trying toget those by mid to late September.
We haven't put an exact dateon it yet, but get those stories
in sooner rather than later sowe can get them all set. Sometimes
we'll ask you follow upquestions too. You can send them
via your own voice. Youtelling your story. We love it. But
(32:15):
also if you're like, I just donot want, I don't want to say it
myself. I want you guys toread it. We will. So you can also
send us it in writing. If youhead to our website, you can click
submit your story and it'll bethere. Also, should you be existing
on an application of some sortwhere you can leave a review, we
would so thoroughly appreciateit. It helps us grow. It helps other
(32:36):
people find us. I know thatyou can leave them on Audible, Apple
podcasts and then you can alsodo like a Facebook review too, if
you do any of these things. Ifyou take a screenshot and you email
it to us, we'll send you asticker as a little thank you. But
that rounds out our end ofepisode housekeeping. This was a
really interesting case today.
Though, and we learned a lotabout magnet fishing.
We did.
Which, like I knew what itwas, but it just sounds more exciting
(32:57):
now.
It does sound more exciting.
Not for the bad purposesobviously, but like when we were
looking through it, all thecool stuff people have found that
were not related to murder.
Yes, yes. And with that, havea good weekend.
Thanks for creeping with us.
Thanks for listening and asalways, a special thank you to our
patrons who support support usvia Patreon.
(33:18):
Please see the link in ourshow notes to learn more about how
you yes, you can begin tohaunt the dump, guard vortexes, or
even become a scorching Sasquatch.
Also in our show notes you canfind the link to our website, more
information on our sources,our social media handles and our
merch store.
We'd love for you to keepcreeping with us, so if you like
this episode, pleasesubscribe, rate, review and share
(33:40):
the show with your fellowcreeps and or ghosts.
I beg of you. If you're just agenerally curious person, I cannot
suggest the magnet fishingReddit enough.
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