Howard Sills

A Georgia DNR aviation crew searched Lake Oconee for missing boater Gary Jones last week. CONTRIBUTED/Casey Brady

A Georgia DNR aviation crew searched Lake Oconee for missing boater Gary Jones last week. CONTRIBUTED/Casey Brady

Missing boater search continues: Sheriff investigates phone data, sighting tips, dam area

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, February 27, 2025
The cell phone records of the late Joycelyn Nicole Wilson of Atlanta are being investigated in hopes of gaining new insight into her death and her fiancé’s disappearance.Wilson and her betrothed, Gary Laron Jones, were boating on Lake Oconee Saturday, Feb.
Nilesh Kumar S. Patel

Nilesh Kumar S. Patel

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Convenience store raids yield four arrests

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Authorities said the owners and clerks of two convenience stores in Eatonton were arrested last week.Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell said he had received numerous complaints that the stores were paying out cash winnings on their gambling machines.
With a photo of the Dermonds’ Great Waters home on the TV mounted behind him, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills presents the evidence gathered so far in what he admits is the “toughest case” of his career so far. IAN TOCHER/Staff

With a photo of the Dermonds’ Great Waters home on the TV mounted behind him, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills presents the evidence gathered so far in what he admits is the “toughest case” of his career so far. IAN TOCHER/Staff

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GWM ‘Crime & Wine’ delivers Dermond discussion

Ian Tocher
Thursday, October 3, 2024
Georgia Writers Museum and its popular Crime & Wine series, led by Cold Case Investigative Research Institute founder and Director Sheryl “Mac” McCollum, presented Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills updating a packed house Friday night on the unsolved May 2014 murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond...
Eulalio De Leon Aldana

Eulalio De Leon Aldana

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Sheriff helps protect possible trafficking victim

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, June 13, 2024
A young woman forced to stay in a hot car all day, every day, is suspected by local authorities of being a human trafficking victim, and a joint effort was made to get her to safety.
The mobile command post for the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office was on the scene of a murder in the Great Waters 10 years ago. (File Photo)

The mobile command post for the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office was on the scene of a murder in the Great Waters 10 years ago. (File Photo)

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New evidence provides glimmer of hope in Dermond case

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, May 2, 2024
The widely discussed and reported case of the murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond may still be unsolved on its 10th anniversary, but it is in no way a cold case.
Joshua L. Bruinekool

Joshua L. Bruinekool

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Man sought for vehicle fatality turns self in

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, April 18, 2024
After about a month of being sought by authorities, the man charged with the death of an Eatonton woman in a vehicle crash turned himself in. Joshua Loyd Bruinekool, a.k.a.
Lake Oconee News/File Photo

Lake Oconee News/File Photo

Putnam man killed in car crash

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, December 7, 2023
A single-car crash claimed the life of a Putnam County man over the weekend, according to authorities. Joseph Gary Roebuck, 35, had already died when deputies arrived at the crash scene on the 200 block of Little River Trail, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said.
Joshua Youngblood

Joshua Youngblood

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Fugitive captured in Texas

Lynn Hobbs
Thursday, November 9, 2023
A man being sought by local authorities for more than two years was arrested last week in Texas. And once again, Putnam County Sheriff Sills repeated his sentiments of the state’s justice system being at fault.
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