Couple found dead in Craiglist scam remembered for selfless nature

A few hours after that interview came word came the beloved couple had been found dead by searchers combing the woods in rural Georgia.

The Runions drove 200 miles south of Atlanta to meet a man claiming to own a 1966 Ford Mustang convertible — the same car Bud had bought when he returned from fighting in the Vietnam War. Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson told reporters late Monday that he was “confident” a local man, Ronnie “Jay” Towns, was involved in the couple’s deaths.

The 28-year-old — who has “little or no criminal history,” according to the sheriff — is being held for criminal attempt to commit theft by deception and for allegedly giving false statements to investigators.

More serious charges are likely forthcoming, Steverson said.

The Runions, both in their late 60s, were reported missing on Friday when they failed to show up at their youngest daughter Brittany’s home in Acworth to babysit their grandchildren. Cellular records helped police determine the Runions were in Telfair County and that Towns, using a prepaid phone, was the last person to speak to them.

“The phone was bought a very short time ago,” Steverson said. “This deal was negotiated for the Runions to come to Telfair County. And it was soon turned off.”

Towns turned himself in to police Monday morning. Later that afternoon, the couple’s GMC Envoy was pulled from a lake near property owned by the Towns family. The Runions’ bodies were found soon after.

Steverson said he believes Towns intended to “defraud Mr. Runion of funds he brought down” to purchase the car. Runion had discovered the convertible for sale on Craigslist.

Steverson said Towns is the only suspect in the deaths.

How they were killed, or if there was a struggle, remains unclear. The sheriff said he hoped autopsies on the Runions would provide more clues into their deaths.

Interviewed just before her parents bodies were discovered, youngest daughter Brittany Patterson said she was hoping for the best. “They were the kindest, sweetest people,” she said.

Her mother was a longtime second grade teacher in Cobb County and was still working as a preschool instructor at Johnson Ferry Baptist, Patterson said. Her father, retired from AT&T, used to collect old bicycle parts, restore them and build new bikes that he would deliver to underprivileged children at Christmas.

Patterson and her two sisters used social media and television appearances to get out the word of their parents’ disappearance, and the response was overwhelming, she said. Thousands of people have posted on a Facebook page dedicated to finding the couple, offering prayers for their safe return.

By late Monday afternoon, those messages, mostly from strangers, were one of condolences for the daughters whose parents, according to neighbor Jennifer Blaske, “lived to do good.”

While police are still sorting through what occurred in Telfair County, investigators say online ads are fertile territory for scam artists. Just last year, a Sandy Springs man was killed when he met a couple who had placed an ad seeking a PlayStation 4 gaming system.

“Customers should always use caution when making sales or purchases online, especially when a meeting is required,” said Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Jake Smith. “A common scam is for a suspect to offer a fake product, or offer to buy a product, in order to prompt a meeting.”

Smith said those meetings should always be in a public place, such as a police station.

“Any change to the agreed upon location should raise an immediate red flag, regardless of how plausible the explanation,” he said.

-Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this article