Bud Runion, the Marietta man found dead in a wooded area of rural Telfair County with his wife, stopped at an antique store last Thursday to get directions, the owner said.
“We were (one of) the last people to see that man alive, besides the killer,” owner Angela Kinnett told Channel 2 Action News. “And that’s horrible.”
Kinnett said she didn't realize Bud and June Runion were the missing Marietta couple until her daughter showed her their pictures on Facebook. She told Channel 2 she wonders if she could have done anything to have prevented their deaths.
The Runions left their home last Thursday morning and made a 200-mile drive to McRae, where they thought they were meeting a man from Craigslist about a 1966 Mustang convertible. The Runions made it to Telfair County, but there was no car.
Instead, investigators believe it was all a scheme to rob the couple, Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson said. The Runions’ bodies were found Monday, four days after they left their home. They were shot in the head with a small caliber gun, GBI autopsy results showed Tuesday.
Ronnie Adrian "Jay" Towns of McRae, the last person who talked with the Runions about the Craigslist ad, remained behind bars on charges of malice murder and armed robbery Wednesday, a day after a magistrate judge in Telfair County denied him bond.
Towns, 28, was previously charged with giving false statements and criminal attempt to commit theft by deception in connection to the case. Those charges were updated Tuesday after the autopsy findings were released.
Family members and friends had held out hope that the Runions would be found alive. The couple’s three daughters appeared on national television and used a Facebook page to help find Bud and June, where thousands from all over the country posted prayers.
“We put a lot of effort into finding (the Runions) and we’re hopeful for a successful prosecution,” Steverson, the county sheriff, previously told The AJC. “This has had a huge impact on our community. This is very rare.
“The entire community is mourning. The entire community is upset. The entire community feels betrayed because an individual raised in this community orchestrated such an heinous act.”
On Facebook, the family posted scriptures as examples of the couple’s love and faith, along with a picture of the two holding hands on the beach.
“Bud and June had an amazing love,” the family said in a Tuesday post. “They loved God and that is evident in how they lived.”
An American flag was at half-staff Wednesday outside the Runions’ home, the site of a growing memorial.
Family members posted the following message on the Facebook page set up last week to help find the couple:
"In lieu of flowers and in memory of Bud and June's ministry, Forever Grateful Ministries, please donate to House of Hope in Canton. Bud and June would be overjoyed that their mission would continue."
—Staff writers Alexis Stevens and Ernie Suggs contributed to this report.
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