TELFAIR COUNTY, Ga. — We have new information tonight in a Telfair County case we first reported on back in 2015.
That's when someone apparently lured Bud and June Runion to Telfair County from Cobb County and killed them. Searchers found their car and bodies off Webb Cemetery Road.
A grand jury indicted a Telfair County man, Ronnie Jay Towns, on charges of killing them. He's still awaiting trial. Now, after nine years, there may be new evidence in this case.
Chris Steverson is the former sheriff of Telfair County, and he was sheriff at the time of the 2015 double murder. He says in his eight years as sheriff, this was the biggest case he has seen.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) confirmed that on April 14 a man went magnet finishing and found a .22 caliber rifle in the creek on Old Prison Camp Road. Steverson says it's less than a mile from where Runion's bodies were found. The man couldn't get a hold of the sheriff's office so he called Steverson. Steverson then told GBI and they sent an agent to retrieve the rifle.
According to a release from the GBI, on April 17 and 19, 2024, a search warrant was executed at a home on the 400 block of Webb Cemetery Road in McRae-Helena.
On April 16, the man went back to the creek and found a bag containing the driver's licenses and credit cards belonging to the Runions. When the man called Steverson who called the Telfair County sheriff's Office, he said they didn't answer.
"For whatever reason the sheriff's office was unable to respond. I don't know if they were busy or what but, I felt like law enforcement needed to be here immediately because this was a very important part of evidence for one of the biggest cases in this county's history. This was potentially all the missing links in that case," Steverson said.
Steverson says this new evidence could help the GBI build a stronger case.
"I'm glad that it was been discovered the family will have that closer," Steverson said.
Oconee District Attorney Tim Vaughn says he hopes Towns can go to trial in August or September. We reached out to Sheriff Sim Davidson. He referred questions on the case to the GBI.