More than a decade after the brutal 2014 murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond, the mystery remains one of Georgia’s most haunting unsolved crimes.
On May 6, 2014, neighbors checking on the elderly couple at their gated Lake Oconee home in Eatonton, Georgia, made a gruesome discovery. Russell Dermond, 88, a retired Hardee’s franchise owner, was found in his garage decapitated, his body lying in a pool of blood. His head has never been recovered.
His wife, Shirley Dermond, 87, was missing. Ten days later, fishermen found her body in Lake Oconee, weighed down with two 30-pound concrete blocks. An autopsy revealed she died of blunt-force trauma, though the weapon was never identified.
Investigators quickly ruled out robbery. There were no signs of forced entry, valuables such as wallets and phones were left behind, and the Dermonds’ home security was compromised when the neighborhood’s gate camera had been disabled by a thunderstorm days earlier.
Gunshot residue was found on Russell’s clothing, leading police to believe he was shot before being decapitated, and that his head was taken to prevent ballistics testing.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, who has led the investigation from the beginning, has repeatedly said the murders were not random.
“This crime screams out for an enemy — a vicious enemy,” he told The Telegraph.
The murders came years after another tragedy. The Dermonds’ eldest son, Mark, was killed in a 2000 shooting in Atlanta. Authorities have said his death was unrelated to the attack on his parents.
The Dermonds, who had been married 68 years, left behind three surviving children and nine grandchildren. Their son, Brad Dermond, recalled the unimaginable horror to WSB-TV:
“It must have just been a moment of horror, and probably a very long moment of horror, unfortunately. And so, we know that Mom and Dad want us to keep going.”
For years, the case went cold. But in 2024, investigators revealed they had recovered DNA from an unknown person on one of Russell’s clothing items. Private labs in Texas and Utah analyzed the material, but so far, the profile has not matched anyone in CODIS, the FBI’s national DNA database.
Sheriff Sills has said if no match is found, investigators may turn to genetic genealogy, the same cutting-edge technology that has helped solve other decades-old cases.
As of early 2025, further lab results are still pending.
The FBI and Putnam County have offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Tips can be submitted to:
📞 FBI Atlanta Field Office: 770-216-3000
🌐 Online: tips.fbi.gov
The Lake Oconee Mystery That Still Haunts Georgia
Nearly 11 years later, the murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond remain an open wound for their family and the Lake Oconee community. Sheriff Sills remains convinced the couple were targeted by someone they knew or had wronged.
“Somebody else knows they did this,” he has said.
For now, the question still lingers: Who killed the Dermonds — and why?
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