BUTTS COUNTY, Ga. — The Spalding County Sheriff's Office released new information Thursday about the search for missing Laurens County man Garland Warren. He's been missing for over two weeks now, and his family says he has dementia and may be confused.
Sheriff Darrell Dix has new information about the suspects, where Warren's truck was originally found and the possible discovery of Warren's chihuahua-mix puppy, Smokey.
The truck discovery:
Last Friday, the Spalding County Sheriff's Office found Warren's black Toyota pickup truck in the parking lot of a Dollar General. They say a Flock camera picked up Warren's tags and, only 8 minutes later, law enforcement arrived and found Warren's truck at the Dollar General.
In a press release, they shared new information about the discovery of Warren's truck, which had been pulled from a ditch in Butts County.
The Spalding County Sheriff's Office says that a couple was driving 4-wheelers on Wallace Road on June 15 when they saw a black pickup truck with its rear tires of the ditch. The couple took photos of the truck, which they then later shared with authorities.
Those photos were confirmed to be the truck Warren was driving when he went missing, and in one of the photos, Warren's dog Smokey was pictured. It was the same area where Peppers says he found the truck.
They say those photos were taken six days before the truck was found by the Spalding County Sheriff's Office at the Dollar General.
The sheriff's office says they conducted "a methodical search" of the area around Wallace Road on Wednesday with 75 searchers scouring the area.
"Everyone out there yesterday morning wanted to find Mr. Warren and help his family," Dix said. "At this point, Mr. Warren, has not been located but we will continue to follow up on leads."
The dog has been found:
But on Thursday, the sheriff's office says the nearby Butts County Sheriff's found a dog matching the description of Warren's chihuahua-mix puppy, Smokey. They say a "good Samaritan" found the dog and had since been taking care of it before hearing about Warren's case.
After hearing about Warren's missing person case, the person reached out to Butts County authorities. The sheriff's office says the dog has now been turned over to Laurens County law enforcement.
While they originally stopped short of saying definitely the dog was Warren's dog, they later updated the story to say that the dog was Warren's.
More about the suspects in the case:
The sheriff's office offered new information about the suspects accused of pulling Warren's truck from a ditch and parking it in the Dollar General parking lot where authorities found it.
Robert Peppers, 56, and Kelly Osborne, 62, were arrested on Saturday after they were interrogated by the Spalding County Sheriff's Office.
They had admitted to driving Warren's vehicle and parking it at the Dollar General, the sheriff's office said, and Osborne also admitted to following Peppers and picking him up after dropping the vehicle off.
Because of that, they have been charged with theft by receiving stolen property.
But after they were arrested, a previous case involving Osborne's husband had come to light.
Osborne's husband, Timothy Osborne, had gone missing for two weeks before he was found dead in a body of water, according to a story from our sister station in Atlanta 11Alive. Police said at the time that he had Dementia and needed daily medication.
With the similarities to the Warrens case, many people have been sharing that story online and Dix says they've received multiple tips about it. Dix says they have the missing-persons report from Osborne's disappearance and they are evaluating it.
Dix also says other people have called for additional charges, but he says they don't have enough other evidence to support other charges — only the theft charges for being in possession of Warren's truck, he said.
"We have to go where the evidence and facts lead us, not where our emotions and theories want to take us," Dix said. "When you get in that courtroom, you only have one chance to get it right or you lose everything."
If you have any information, video footage or leads, you can reach out to the Laurens County Sheriff's Office at 478-272-1522 or the Spalding County Sheriff's Office at 770-229-9911.