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Cops fail to find dead college instructor’s husband in lake

homesafetytechpros — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 10:10:23 +0000

Left inset: Joycelyn Wilson (WGXA/YouTube). Center inset: Gary Jones’ boat after it was recovered from Lake Oconee, Ga. (WGXA/YouTube). Right inset: Gary Jones (WGXA/YouTube). Background: Lake Oconee in central Georgia (WGXA/YouTube).

A death investigation and missing person case has been unfolding in Georgia that’s unlike anything local authorities have ever seen, with cops spending nearly a month looking for the fiance of a Spelman College instructor who was found dead and floating in a lake, along with her partner’s boat and shoes. The U.S. Secret Service has even been called in to assist, according to officials.

“There’s never been anybody looked for like this,” Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told local Fox affiliate WAGA this week as police entered day 22 of looking for Gary Jones, husband of Joycelyn Wilson, at Lake Oconee — the last place they were seen alive together — in what officials have dubbed the largest search effort in county history.

Jones, who is believed to be dead, was boating with Wilson on Feb. 8 when they disappeared sometime that evening. His boat was found circling a portion of Lake Oconee with no one on board, roughly seven miles away from where he and Wilson were caught on video at a boat launch. Cops say they can be seen putting the vessel into the water together. Witness testimony and phone records show that whatever happened with the couple unfolded between 5:01 p.m. and 5:24 p.m., according to Sills.

“This is a huge area,” he told Fox and ABC affiliate WGXA last week. “Not to mention the cold weather and the cold water preventing normal surfacing. There is a Herculean effort going on here trying to locate his body.”

Asked why Wilson’s body would surface but not Jones, Sills said: “There was some air, and some water in her lungs. The crime lab pathologist has not rendered her final opinion yet.”

Authorities believe Wilson took several photographs with her phone before she died and went into the lake. Wilson’s phone was found in her hand when her body was found, according to police, but investigators have been unable to bypass a security code that’s keeping it locked — that’s where the Secret Service comes in.

Sills says agents have been trying to help unlock Wilson’s phone; investigators can look at its data and see a final photo was taken at 4:59 p.m. just before it lost connection and power. But they can’t view the image until the phone is unlocked.

“We don’t know what happened after that,” Sills told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.

He said the Secret Service has struggled, as well, to open Wilson’s phone, so they’re now enlisting Georgia’s Department of Corrections to assist them with the investigation as DOC claims to have a machine that could possibly crack the security code. “We’re getting ready to take it to Forsyth (DOC headquarters) today,” Sills said.

The sheriff acknowledged that there have been rumors and theories going around about Wilson and Jones — regarding their relationship and plans to marry in a few weeks — but Sills declined to delve further.

“This is a death investigation,” Sills told WGXA after being asked about the possibility of an argument happening between the couple that led to a physical altercation. “We are investigating any aspect of that. Right now, I’m more convinced, unfortunately, Mr. Jones has drowned.”

Search efforts have been centered around a 200-acre triangular area at Lake Oconee, according to police. Activities have included the use of dogs and divers seeking to locate Jones’ body. On Monday, authorities suspended the water search until further notice.

“(Department of Natural Resources) officers and Putnam County Sheriff’s Deputies will continue to conduct daily shoreline searches and if weather conditions improve, search dogs will be deployed again in the near future,” Sills wrote in a Facebook post. “We have deployed aircraft, all available underwater technological devices, and professional divers in our efforts. I cannot remember such an extensive use of government and civilian personnel and resources for an incident such as this on Lakes Oconee and Sinclair in the last 40 years.”

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Woman sentenced for stabbing college student up to 10 times

homesafetytechpros — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 15:08:48 +0000

This photo provided by the Bloomington Police Department shows Billie Davis (Bloomington Police Department via AP)

An Indiana woman has learned her fate for stabbing an 18-year-old Indiana University student with a folding knife between seven and 10 times in the head as the victim was riding a public bus to school, all because the victim was of Asian descent.

Billie Davis, 57, has been sentenced to six years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release for committing a federal hate crime. Davis pleaded guilty in September to willfully causing bodily injury to a victim with a knife because the victim was of Chinese descent, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a press release.

The attack happened on Jan. 11, 2023. Davis stabbed the 18-year-old student as the victim stood up to get off the bus. The victim exited the bus, screaming in pain.

After the attack, Davis sat back down on the bus, where she remained until other passengers confronted her, and she got off the bus. But she was eventually arrested after a witness followed her and told police her whereabouts, authorities said.

The victim suffered serious wounds and cuts that required sutures and staples to heal, officials said.

In police custody, Davis described the victim to investigators as “some Asian f—ing c—,” prosecutors said. Davis told police she did it for her “being Chinese,” and this “would be one less person to blow up our country.”

In the press release, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division upbraided the defendant.

“Racially motivated violence has no place in our society,” Clarke said. “This defendant targeted a young woman, who was simply riding a public bus to school, solely because she was Chinese. The sentence imposed for these vicious hate crimes should send a strong message that perpetrators of hate-fueled violence will be held accountable. The Justice Department is steadfast in its commitment to investigating and prosecuting hate crimes wherever they occur in our country.”

James Wimbush, the vice president for diversity, equity, and multicultural affairs at Indiana University, said shortly after the attack that the case was a sad reminder that “anti-Asian hate is real and can have painful impacts on individuals and our community.”

“No one should face harassment or violence due to their background, ethnicity or heritage,” he said. “Instead, the Bloomington and IU communities are stronger because of the vast diversity of identities and perspectives that make up our campus and community culture. To our Asian and Asian American friends, colleagues, students, and neighbors, we stand firmly with you.”

The university’s Asian Culture Center held an emergency meeting. Some students expressed concerns for their safety. Others recalled times they witnessed or experienced racial discrimination while riding the bus.

“We should not be fearing for our lives on public transportation,” the center said in a statement. “Taking the bus should not feel dangerous. The fact that the perpetrator announced that race was the motivation for her attack sends a jolt through our Asian community.”

Law&Crime reported in May 2023 that state charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery by means of a deadly weapon were dismissed as Davis faced the federal hate crime charge.

The defendant’s son his mother suffers from severe mental illness, he said in an email to a Herald-Times reporter.

“I feel sorry for the victim, so sorry, it’s a sad situation all around but people need to know how bad my mom has been crying for help especially in the last couple months,” he wrote, the newspaper reported. “People need to know that she’s mentally ill and this is not her.”

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Uber driver raped college student in her dorm room: Police

homesafetytechpros — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 11:34:27 +0000

Background: Villanova University (YouTube). Inset: Mirvan Dinler (Delaware County (Penn.) District Attorney’s Office).

Police in Pennsylvania have arrested an Uber driver who allegedly followed a college student into her on-campus dorm room and raped her after bringing her home.

Mirvan Dinler, 26, was arrested on Friday, Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI reported. The assault allegedly occurred the night of Sept. 13, according to the station.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was reportedly out with friends in Philadelphia for a birthday party that night. She apparently started feeling ill during a ride to a nightclub, so she decided to go home. Her friends reportedly waited with her until her Uber arrived to take her back to her dorm.

The driver of that Uber was Dinler, police say. He allegedly picked her up at around 10:19 p.m. and arrived at the university almost an hour later, at 11:08 p.m., according to the WPVI report.

He then is said to have followed her into her dorm room after her dropping her off. He allegedly raped her and forced her to perform oral sex, police say.

Dinler left, but then allegedly came back and demanded that the victim give him money for what he said was a mess in his car. She allegedly handed him her phone, which Dinler purportedly used to send $150 via Venmo. He finally left after that, WPVI says.

The student reported the alleged attack to university officials the following week. A spokesperson for Villanova reportedly said that the driver had been banned from Villanova property during the pendency of the investigation.

Court records show that Dinler is charged with rape, indecent assault, and reckless endangerment. Several of the charges are enhanced because the victim, having had multiple drinks that night, is deemed a “substantially impaired person.”

Uber said in a statement that Dinler is no longer with the ride-share service.

“Sexual assault is a devastating crime that has no place in our society, Uber said in a statement, according to CBS News Philadelphia. “We are appalled by what’s been described, and banned the driver as soon as this was reported to us. We will assist law enforcement however we can.”

Court records indicate Dinler was unable to post bail and is currently being held that the Delaware County Prison. He has a hearing scheduled for Oct. 17.

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Man attacks college student after she gave him ride: Cops

homesafetytechpros — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 10:28:49 +0000

Darrell Scott Brooks (Anderson County Sheriff’s Office)

A good Samaritan interrupted the attempted sexual assault of a South Carolina college student by a convicted sex offender recently released from prison, authorities said.

Darrell Scott Brooks, 57, is facing a litany of charges including kidnapping, grand larceny and assault with the intent to commit criminal sexual conduct, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies say Brooks asked the Clemson University student for a ride at an off-campus apartment complex late Tuesday, telling her he worked at the school and his car had “broken down.”

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As she drove the man toward campus, Brooks allegedly forced her to pull into a church parking lot where he attacked her with a “folding razor blade knife” before pinning her down. A good Samaritan happened to be driving by and heard the woman yelling for help. The woman was able to escape with the help of the good Samarian. Brooks then allegedly stole the woman’s vehicle and took off.

Deputies from the neighboring Oconee County Sheriff’s Office saw Brooks crash in the Seneca area after fleeing from them when they tried to conduct a traffic stop, authorities said. They then took him to the Oconee County Detention Center. Clemson University officials are in contact with the student to make sure she has the resources she needs during the recovery process.

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