Floyd County Police have released a statement regarding the arrest of a Rome man accused of deceiving a woman on Terhune Road on January 23rd.
The woman, 71-year-old Myra Reeves and her husband, 69-year-old James Reeves, were found dead later that day of gunshot wounds.
Emerson Mack Abbott Jr. was arrested Wednesday and charged with Theft by Deception, Theft by Conversion and Making False Statements and Writings. The arrest follows an investigation into a check purportedly written by Myra Reeves to Mr. Abbott.
The statement read, "At this time this investigation is considered as a dual investigation to the murder of James and Myra Reeves. Due to the importance and the complexity of this investigation no other information can be released at this time."
A dual investigation means there are two ongoing investigations that are separate but have common connections, according to Floyd County Police Chief Bill Shiflett.
According to a Floyd County Jail report, 27-year-old Emerson Mack Abbott, Jr. of 7 Terhune Road received $7,500 for labor and equipment from Myra Reeves for contract work on January 23.
The report states Abbott never showed up and did not have any intention to do the job.
WRGA
The University of Georgia will begin taking bids next month to sell a 865-acre cattle farm just east of Athens, one of the final steps in a plan to reorganize the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences’ properties near the main campus.
In 2012, Dean J. Scott Angle began a strategic realignment of the college’s Athens-area farm properties.
“These decisions were driven by difficult economic conditions, reduced budgets for maintenance expenses, and an opportunity to sell a valuable 522-acre farm,” Angle said. “The college had a prime opportunity to consolidate and streamline our property holdings and farm operations to become leaner and more efficient in our research facilities.”
The research operation within the college maintains two basic types of farms – farms for crop and plant research and farms for animal and dairy science research.
“The sale of the 522-acre Plant Sciences Farm in Oconee County necessitated the purchase of a 660-acre farm, primarily located in Greene County for relocating crop research,” Angle said. “The remaining funds have been directed toward maintenance and operations of our other farms and agricultural research facilities as well as providing some funding to increase the college's endowment.”
In 2013, the USDA gifted a 1,055-acre farm in Oconee County that will serve several needs, especially as a Beef Cattle research farm.
“Acquisition of the J. Phil Campbell Farm near Watkinsville made it possible for us to offer for sale our beef cattle farm in Oglethorpe County, which is almost an hour’s drive from the UGA main campus,” Angle said.
The University of Georgia will begin accepting bids for the almost 900-acre beef cattle farm on March 13, 2015. Details are available online at: http://ssl.doas.state.ga.us/PRSapp/PublicBidNotice?bid_op=1551800SALE-WILKINS-FARM Interested bidders may tour the property Feb. 19 from 8:30 a.m. to noon and Feb. 23 from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“The sale of this farm will allow us to continue our streamlining and efficiency efforts to make the college more productive and our properties more cost effective as we strive to serve Georgia’s growing agriculture industry and the people of Georgia,” Angle said.
(Faith Peppers is Director of Public Affairs for the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)
MRS. MATTIE LEE BROOME, 89, of Espy Street, Summerville, Georgia, passed away Friday, February 13, 2015, morning. She was born on December 31, 1925, Gaylesville, Alabama, daughter of the late Harrison Teen and Lora Livingston Smith. Mrs. Broome attended Gaylesville Grammer School until 1939 when the family moved to Summerville. She attended & graduated from Trion High School in 1945, was graduated from Carrol Lynn Business School in Rome in 1947. She was employed with National Life & Accident Ins. Co. holding many office positions, eventually served as Cashier and Office Supervisor, retiring after 35 years.Was preceded in death by Her husband, the late Paul Broome on September 28, 2010, sisters, Carris Smith, Ola Smith Cochran, Edna Smith Beck, & Flora Inez Smith, brothers, James R. Smith, and Milton O. Smith. Mrs. Broome was a member of the Summerville First Baptist Church since 1958, a member of the Dorcus Sunday School Class, adult choir member, & member of the senior “Joy Club.
Surviving are nieces, Elaine Beck DeBerry & Tonya Smith Pierce, nephews, James Lamar Smith, Harrison Smith, & Milton Otis Smith, great nieces, Lori DeBerry Edwards, Stephanie DeBerry Burke, Crystal Lemming Paris, Adrieanna Paulie, Angelica Pierce, Jennifer Smith Norton, & Heather Smith Trapp, great nephews, Billy Don DeBerry, Jr., Marty, Tracy, Matthew, Alan, & Kevin Smith; step daughter, Peggy Tucker, 5 step Grandchildren,12 step Great Grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Sunday, February 15th, at 4:00 P.M. from the J. D. Hill Memorial Chapel of Earle Rainwater Funeral Home, with Rev. Ricky Biddle and Dr. David Hunter officiating, interment in West Hill Cemetery, pallbearers Billy Don DeBerry, Jr., Lamar, Tracy, Milton Otis, & Alan Smith, & Eddie Burke. The Family will receive friends Sunday from 2 until 4 P.M. @ the Funeral Home, at other hours will be @ residence of a niece Elaine Beck DeBerry, 828 Back Penn Road, Summerville.
Earle Rainwater Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Patsy Ruth Jarrett, age 76, of LaFayette, GA, died Friday, February 13, 2015, at Pruitt Healthcare in LaFayette, GA.
Mrs. Jarrett was born March 20, 1938, in Menlo, GA, daughter of the late Clifford Patton Forrest and Mattie Bell Ricket Forrest. She was a homemaker. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband, William Franklin Bartlett, second husband, Bill Jarrett; sisters, Virginia Shadrick, Ruby Trammell, brother, James Forrest, great-great grandchildren, Tanner Dennison, and Coleton Wallace.
Mrs. Jarrett is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, William E. & Jackie Bartlett, daughters and son-in-law, Judy Hines, Sherry & Rodney Liles, brother and sister-in-law, Clifford & Lillie Mae Forrest, sisters and brothers-in-law, Carolyn Sue & James Singley, Nanny Lou & James Pope, grandchildren, Serena Asher, Patricia Burkett, Josh Hines, Christy Houge, Andrew Bartlett, Lori Richards, 13 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mrs. Jarrett will be held at 2:00 P.M. Sunday, February 15, 2015, from the Mason Funeral Home Chapel with Chaplain Dan Barton officiating.
Mrs. Jarrett will be in state at Mason Funeral Home and the family will receive friends from 12:00 Noon until the service hour on Sunday.
Mason Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements for Mrs. Patsy Ruth Jarrett who died on Friday.
The Chattooga FFA is hosting a dairy heifer show on Monday, February 16th at the ag builiding (across from the board office) at 6 pm. There will be students from Chattooga 4H and FFA members from the Northwest Georgia area exhibiting at the show. This will be a final show for the students before they head to the Georgia Junior National Livestock Show next week in Perry, GA. The majority of students at Monday's show will be from Chattooga county. This would be an excellent opportunity to support these students by attending. The show will be held inside the ag building and should be warm! Please plan to attend and support your local FFA and 4H students.
Cold Temperatures and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico along with a Low Pressure system will all determine if, and how much, winter weather we see the first part of next week.
A Rome man who traveled to Denver, Colorado to meet someone he believed to be an underage female teen has been convicted on four charges including attempted child sex assault and Internet luring of a child with intent to exploit.
According to the Denver Post, a Jefferson County jury returned the guilty verdict on Wednesday against James Lee Pierce.
Pierce is set to be sentenced on April the 13th.
According to previous reports, Pierce was arrested on April 17 of 2014 when he arrived in Jefferson County, Colorado.
The underage teen was actually an undercover investigator.
On December 31, 2013, an investigator with the DA’s Child Sex Offender Internet Investigations Unit was contacted online by Pierce. The investigator was in a social networking site portraying himself as a child under the age of 15.
The communication from Pierce is alleged to have become sexually graphic and to have continued over the next three months.
According to the arrest affidavit, in addition to the sexually graphic language, Pierce asked the person he believed to be an underage teen to send him naked pictures. He also sent sexually graphic photos of himself to the purported underage teen.
In March, 2014 Pierce said that he was going to take a bus to Colorado to meet the underage teen for sexual purposes. He also talked about bringing the underage teen back to Georgia with him. According to the affidavit he left Marietta, GA on April 15 and arrived in Denver on April 17.