Debbie Collier death: Daughter of Georgia woman found dead in ravine denies murder claims as new details emerge
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: The daughter of Debbie Collier, whose mysterious disappearance and death have riveted the nation, claimed recently that she thinks her mother died by suicide. Unsettling findings regarding the Georgia woman's death have recently come to the surface and Collier's daughter has denied claims that her mother was murdered.
Amanda Bearden, Collier's daughter, first proposed that her mother might have killed herself. Collier's cause of death is still unknown, but sources claim that she may have died in a fire that she started herself. Collier's dead body was discovered on September 11, 2022, in a ravine in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest south of Clayton, about 90 minutes from her Athens home.
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The devastated daughter broke her silence on the 'Crime on the Record' podcast and revealed further details about her mother's mental state just before she was found dead, charred, and half-naked on September 11. Collier's daughter claimed that she battled depression and had just started donating some of her items, Fox 5 reported.
According to CCTV footage, Collier, 59, was last seen alive shopping at a Family Dollar store after leaving her family home early in a rental car. Habersham County authorities have been looking into significant twists in the case. Before Bearden reported receiving a nearly $2,400 Venmo payment, the wife and mother were seen buying a tarp and a refillable torch lighter, the Sun reported.
The payment had a cryptic 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," the Sun reported.
Police discovered Collier's body less than 24 hours later in a ravine about an hour from her Athens home. A partially burned blue tarp and red tote bag were discovered close to her body, lying next to an uprooted tree with part of her abdomen torched.
Police have been quiet about this issue for the most part, although they did say they don't think she died by suicide or was abducted, and they even said it might have all been an accident.
However, sources close to the investigation reportedly informed that she may have suffocated and burned in a fire she created. While the state medical examiner is yet to produce an official autopsy report, sources informed the publication that her injuries could indicate she was caught in a flash fire, the Sun reported.
According to investigators, an accelerant was used to create the burn damage to her body, and an arson examination revealed the presence of gasoline on her garments. Detectives discovered an empty gas can near where Collier was found dead some weeks later.
The autopsy report, toxicology reports, and official cause of death have yet to be released by authorities. This matter is still being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI.
The FBI was contacted for comment by the US Sun, but they did not respond right away, the Sun reported.