TIMELINE: Laurens County elderly man with dementia went missing 2 weeks ago. What we know now
TIMELINE: Laurens County elderly man with dementia went missing 2 weeks ago. What we know now
The search for Garland Warren, an 82-year-old man from Laurens County with dementia, is still underway. Here’s what’s happened since Warren went missing
LAURENS COUNTY, Ga. — Missing 82-year-old Garland Warren from Laurens County has been missing for two weeks as of Monday. That very day, news broke that two people were arrested on theft charges for allegedly driving Warren’s truck and dropping it off at a Dollar General in Griffin.
Warren’s family says he has dementia and may be confused and not know where he is going.
But in the two weeks since, there have been new developments and breaks in the case, even though Warren has still not been found.
As this story evolves and the search for Warren continues, we’re taking a look at what’s happened since Warren went missing back on Monday, June 10.
Timeline:
June 10: Garland Warren left his home in Rentz Monday afternoon and hadn’t been seen by his family after that. His wife, Mary Lou Warren, saw him before she left home for a doctor’s appointment. They say he went missing at around 3 p.m.
June 10: Later that day, Warren was spotted in Crawford County at Frozen Joe’s on East Agency Street. He was asking for directions to a gas station. That was the last time that he was seen. At the time, they say that north Crawford County was one of the last places FLOCK cameras had picked up Warren’s car.
June 11: Laurens County Sheriff’s Office asks the public to be on the lookout for Warren in a Facebook post. They say he is 82 years old and was driving his 2003 Toyota Tundra. They asked anyone with information to call the sheriff’s office at 478-272-1522.
Story continues underneath the photo gallery.
June 15: A couple was driving a 4-wheeler on Wallace Road in Butts County when they saw a black pickup truck with its rear tires in a ditch. They snapped photos — which would confirm that the truck was Warren’ — and one of them included Warren’s dog Smokey. However, they didn’t report the photos to the sheriff’s office at the time since they were unaware it was tied to a missing persons case.
June 17: The GBI, FBI and many volunteers gathered in Crawford County to search for Warren. They say 20 groups split up and searched various parts of the county, searching in cars, on foot, in 4-wheelers and in planes.
June 21: The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office received a Flock camera notification about Warren’s vehicle in Griffin. Only 8 minutes later, they were able to find Warren’s car in the parking lot of a Dollar General in Griffin.
That discovery prompted a search of the region using helicopters, law enforcement and lasted into the night. They also went through video footage and went door to door trying to find any leads about where Warren could have been.
June 22: Late Saturday night, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office interviewed Robert Peppers, 62, and Kelly Osborn, 56, at their home. During the course of their questioning, Peppers admitted to pulling Warren’s car from a ditch and then driving it to the Dollar General, the sheriff’s office said.
They say Osborn admitted to following Peppers as he drove to the Dollar General to pick him up. Both were taken to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office to be interviewed and they searched their home. They were charged with theft by receiving stolen property.
At some point, the sheriff’s office was then able to find the road and ditch where Warren’s vehicle had been pulled from. It is unclear when it was pulled from the ditch and how long it had been there. However, they say they found mail belonging to Warren at the scene.
June 23: Both Osborn and Peppers were denied bond before a Spalding County Superior Court judge on Sunday afternoon, court records show. Their hearings were held at around 3 p.m. Sunday.
June 24: The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office searched Osborn and Peppers home on Monday morning where they found items they believe were originally from Warren’s truck. The sheriff’s office also announced the break in the case, but they say the investigation and search for Warren is still ongoing.
June 26: A group of 75 searchers scoured the area around Wallace Road in Butts County — where Warren’s car had been pulled from a ditch — hoping to find Warren. It was a “methodical search” covering a large amount of territory, Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said.
June 27: The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a dog matching the description of Warren’s dog, Smokey, had been found by a “Good Samaritan” who had been taking care of them in Butts County. Once that person learned about the missing persons case of Warren, they called the authorities and the dog was handed over to authorities in Laurens County. They, however, stopped short of saying that dog was Warren’s.
June 27: Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix confirmed another missing persons case involving Osborne’s husband.
Back in 2019, Osborne’s husband Timothy Osborne had gone missing for two weeks before his body was discovered in a body of water. Police said he had dementia. They say multiple people had sent them tips about that case, which they have the report on.
He also said people have called for more charges against Osborne and Peppers, but he says that there is not enough evidence to support any charges other than the theft charges related to being in possession of Warrens’s car.
June 28: The Spalding and Laurens County Sheriff’s Offices believe that Garland Warrens body was discovered in Butts County that evening.
While the body had been there for a while and they could not say for sure it was his remains, Laurens County Sheriff Larry Dean says Spalding County is “99% sure” it was Warren’s body.
It was found not far from where Osborne and Peppers says they pulled his truck from a ditch.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office at 770-467-1522 or the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office