Police were called when a passerby saw a truck in the middle of the road that was still running with the passenger door open
Credit: Jeffcoat Trant Funeral Home
NEED TO KNOW
- The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama was called on June 10 after someone reported a truck parked in the middle of the road, still running, with one door open and the tailgate down
- Deputies found the bodies of a man and woman in the woods
- The Chambers County District Attorney reportedly said that the man died of a heart attack while disposing of the woman’s body
A Georgia man who allegedly strangled his girlfriend to death is believed to have died of a heart attack while getting rid of her body in the Alabama woods, the local district attorney said.
On Wednesday, June 10, the bodies of Jessica Folds, 47, of Lanett, Ala., and Daniel Robbins, 44, of Macon, Ga., were found in a wooded area near County Road 86 in Lanett, authorities said, AL.com, WTVM and The Lafayette Sun report.
Robbins was Folds' boyfriend, Chambers County District Attorney Mike Segrest said, AL.com and WTVM report.
An autopsy found that Folds died of strangulation and that Robbins died of a heart attack, Segrest said, AL.com reports.
“Based on the investigation by [Alabama Law Enforcement Agency] ALEA and the Chambers County Sheriff's Office, and the autopsy done by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, the female victim was strangled, and it appears the male was attempting to dispose of the body in a remote location,” Segrest said, AL.com reports.
“He died of a heart attack while doing it,” Segrest said. “Their bodies were right there together.”
Investigators believe Folds was killed somewhere else and that her body was taken to the area where it was found, Sheriff Jeff Nelson said, WTVM reports.
Folds was found with her hands over her head, and Robbins was found next to her in a fetal position, Nelson said, WTVM reports.
The bodies were discovered at 12:20 p.m. on June 10 when deputies were dispatched to the desolate wooded area of County Road 86 off Highway 50 after the Sheriff's Office received a report about a vehicle parked in the road, the Chambers County Alabama Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Deputies found the truck still running. The driver's side door was open and the tailgate had been lowered down, AL.com and WTVM report. They also found signs that something had been dragged in the dirt from the back of the truck into the area where the bodies were found.
At 1 p.m., special agents with the ALEA State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) launched a death investigation at the request of the Chambers County Sheriff's Office, The Lafayette Sun reports.
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The bodies were transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy.
According to her obituary, Folds lived and worked in many places in the Auburn-Opelika area. Folds touched the lives of many with her heart of gold, deep love for everyone, and smile that brightened the world.
Folds is preceded in death by her husband, Lamar Folds, and her father, Keith Walters.
She is survived by her three sons.
A memorial service and celebration of her life was held on Sunday, June 28, at her mother's residence.
An obituary for Robbins has since been taken down.
The Chambers County District Attorney's Office did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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