Do they really close cases like this?
when Debbie Collier found dead last year, there is no doubt in the mind of who this murder is – the only question is who did this, and why. A Georgia mother was found dead on an embankment along the 15th Street, about an hour away from her home in Athens. There were bags and tarpaulins, and the body was reported to be naked and partially burned.
Even his last words screamed play, because he sent his daughter a few thousand dollars Venmo along with the haunting message:
“He won’t let me go, love you”
Kidnapping is wrong? A serial killer? What is this?
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Then in November, we got an answer – just not what we wanted. At Georgia Bureau of InvestigationThe medical examiner’s office ordered the manner of death a passed away. In a press release, he assured the public that he had spent two months “following up on all leads” but finally came to a surprising conclusion:
“A detailed examination of all the information gathered has enabled the investigators to determine, based on the evidence and factual data, that Mrs. Collier’s death was self-inflicted.”
The cause of death, according to the release, was listed as a combination of “Superheated Gas Inhalation, Thermal Injury, and Hydrocodone Intoxication.” The implication is that we have no choice but to read from it, the 59-year-old real estate office manager and mother of two got high and set himself on fire. The purpose? The method is not death by accident or accident – it is regulated passed away.
That was quite difficult to understand at that time. But The New York Post taken a full autopsy report there, and it’s even stranger. Police initially described the burn as “what he saw in his stomach.” But based on the cause of death it seems clear that there is more than just some mild charring. Indeed, the full report says he did indeed suffer “second and third degree burns involving 80% of his total body surface.” His face and scalp were covered in third-degree burns, and he was “skin dry” all over. That’s a lot of burning. The report explains:
“The autopsy examination showed thermal injuries on the external body surface and tracheal (windpipe) mucosa, no soot deposited in the airways, and no significant increase in blood carboxyhemoglobin.”
The report – which said it found no other injuries – suggested a “flash fire” caused by gas escaping near the body. The drugs are an interesting inclusion in the cause of death, as they appear to have died from the fire. The implications of his actions change a lot when it comes to drugs – but we also know that he was given hydrocodone by his doctor for a back injury. And the picture that is painted of people going on a bender and deliberately setting themselves on fire is not what the report says. He says he did this to himself – that it wasn’t an accident.
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It sounds like a really horrible way to die. According to CDC, in 2020 the most common suicide method among women was firearms, followed by suffocation, drugs, poisons, falls, drowning, and cutting. Self-immolation? It’s zero statistics.
There is no explanation in the report as to how the medical examiner’s office concluded it was a suicide – only this:
“The investigation by law enforcement revealed the circumstances were consistent with his acting on his own and he was alone when it happened.”
So the police decided to commit suicide. But he didn’t say how he thought about it. Nor did they explain how he ended up going up and down the mountain, grasping the tree, completely mute.
We know he bought a lighter and a tarp himself that day Family dollars — that was the last time anyone saw him alive. But is it enough to conclude that he died by suicide in such a way?? Police appeared to be confident that this was a “targeted” attack early on. What has changed? Maybe he just found something horrible to share publicly? If this is a suicide, that is painful, what news is unimaginable and unbearable for the poor family.
What do you think about this wrinkle in the case? Are we reading too much?
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, help is available. Try contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting or chatting, or to 988lifeline.org.
[Image via Debbie Collier/Facebook/11Alive/YouTube.]