Deputies have released surveillance footage at a dollar store showing some of a woman’s last moments alive. The next day, Debbie Collier, a 59-year-old mother of two, was found naked, partially burned, and deceased in the Georgia woods.
Collier was last seen alive Sept. 10 at Family Dollar store in the city of Clayton, according to authorities. Investigators are trying to figure out what happened to her between then and the following day, when authorities discovered her body in a ravine off U.S. 441 in Habersham County.
Footage shows the woman purchasing a torch lighter, tarp, a rain poncho, paper towels, and a tote bag, said the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office.
The video depicts her entering the store, checking out at the cash register, talking to the woman behind the register, and leaving after the transaction ended.
Shortly after leaving the store, Collier sent her daughter $2,400 through Venmo with a message, “They are not going to let me go love you there is a key to the house in the blue flower pot by the door,” authorities said.
Collier was found dead the next day, Sept. 11, in a ravine a few miles away from the store. She grabbing a small tree with her right hand, authorities said in a Fox 5 Atlanta report.
The video helped narrow down the time of her death from 3:09 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, to the discovery of her body on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 12:44 p.m., according to WXIA.
Surveillance storage at the store reportedly showed Collier, a resident of the city of Athens, was alone in her van when she was at the store.
“At this time, there is no evidence to suggest or support that this incident was related to a kidnapping or that this was a suicide,” deputies previously said.
A deputy who found Collier’s body also discovered a red tote bag on its side and a partially burned blue tarp, according to an incident report obtained by the outlet.
“I do remember her I remember checking her out but I really don’t remember what we talked about,” Family Dollar clerk Esther Kreller told WXIA.
“She didn’t seem in distress or anything,” Kreller said.
The items Collier purchased were not unusual, she said.
“It’s a common thing people buy,” Kreller said. “We were going to put up the tarps for the winter but then my boss said no because people buy them year around. Oh yeah, the big bags yeah people buy those a lot to put stuff in like reusable grocery bags.”
The Family Dollar store is 13 miles away from where she was found.
Authorities reportedly said her husband last saw her at around 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9. He filed a missing person’s report at 6 p.m. the following day. Her rental car was found near her body on Sept. 11.
Bombshell revelation in #DebbieCollier case after NEW video shows her BUYING items in Family Dollar that were found next to her naked, burned body. I talked w/ clerk who checked her out, 13 miles from crime scene. A NEW timeline in the bizarre mystery out of Habersham County GA. https://t.co/Pmrh6FCSjs
— Cody Alcorn (@CodyAlcorn) September 27, 2022
Deputies ask that anyone with information call Investigator Cale Garrison at (706) 839-0559 or Investigator George Cason at (706) 839-0560.
The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a Law&Crime request for an update.
[Screenshot via Law&Crime Network]
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