I live in Fayetteville, NC where this case happened and has always found it intriguing.

On Wednesday, December 25, 1985, after completing her shift at the hospital, Debbie Wolfe of Fayetteville, North Carolina, left work, presumably heading home. Debbie’s parents and a family friend named Kevin Gorton hurried over to her house, an isolated cabin, four miles outside Fayetteville. Debbie’s purse was not in its usual place. Kevin found it shoved under her bed. There was also an odd message on Debbie’s answering machine recorded earlier that day. A man from the hospital was calling to see how Debbie was doing. He mentioned that she had missed many days of work.

The search continued outside the cabin and around a nearby pond. There were no signs of Debbie. Debbie’s mother called the Sheriff’s office and was told they would investigate only after Debbie had been missing for three days. But five days passed before authorities began a full-scale search. Jenny Edwards decided to hire her own divers. On January 1, 1986, Kevin Gorton and another friend, Gordon Childress, returned to the pond. Both men were familiar with rescue work. Childress dragged the pond looking for evidence. In fact, according to Gordon Childress, he found two sets of footprints pressed into the thick mud, along with the drag marks. Once he went under the murky water, it wasn’t long before Childress came across a body. The police were called to the scene. The dead woman was identified as Debbie Wolfe.

The coroner concluded that she had drowned. An autopsy revealed no trace of drugs, no alcohol in her system, and no signs of foul play. Kevin Gorton does not believe Debbie’s death was as a result of drowning. What really happened to Debbie Wolfe? Her mother believes she was taken hostage and then murdered. She believes that, later, someone returned to the pond to remove the oil barrel (where family said she was found in) so that the death would seem accidental. (www.unsolved.com)

I have seen this story on UM a few times over the years. I always believed that she was murdered and that the police probably botched the investigation. I thought it suspect that the police initially acknowledged the existence of the barrel in the pond. After the barrel disappeared, they basically took the position that it didn't exist at all, despite the fact that there were a couple of unbiased independent witnesses who reported seeing it.

I don't remember the case, but it sounds like a botched investigation by the police that would prevent the case being solved, absent a confession that could somehow be corroborated.

I think this case can definitely be solved! There have been cases solved with a lot less evidence than this. Someone has to have known who did it. or at least heard someone talk about it. I think Debbie was killed by someone she knew. I recall in the segment that she had been dating someone and he came to the hospital on a regular basis. I think Debbie broke it off with him though, because if I remember right he was a weirdo and was stalking her.

I think Debbie was killed by someone she knew. I recall in the segment that she had been dating someone and he came to the hospital on a regular basis. I think Debbie broke it off with him though, because if I remember right he was a weirdo and was stalking her.

From what I learned in the segment, Debbie was being hit on by someone that worked at the hospital, but she told him that she was already involved with someone else and this person was not involved with the hospital. It was suspected that this person from the hospital had murdered Debbie after she had rejected him.

I've been running in and out of the house, working on my studpid car, so I only caught part of this when it aired a little while ago.

There are some cases where UM should give us more details and less mystery.

They said that Debra had a male hospital volunteer with a history of mental health problems pursuing her. He then left the state after she was found murdered.

Well, what are the details?!? Was this volunteer giving his time freely at the hospital, working there, giving back to the community until his out of state job came through? Then it did, at the inconvenient timing when Debra was murdered? Was his mental health history nothing more than he needed to take an occasional xanax for anxiety and his condition posed no threat to himself or anyone else?

Or was this an unemployed life long loser with a volatile mental health history, who was in and out of institutions, and was volunteering at the hospital because it provided him with a hunting ground for vunerable females? Then, having no job or other ties to the state, he skips town when Debra is found murdered?

Because based on the info UM gave us, it could be either one.

I've been running in and out of the house, working on my studpid car, so I only caught part of this when it aired a little while ago.

There are some cases where UM should give us more details and less mystery.

They said that Debra had a male hospital volunteer with a history of mental health problems pursuing her. He then left the state after she was found murdered.

Well, what are the details?!? Was this volunteer giving his time freely at the hospital, working there, giving back to the community until his out of state job came through? Then it did, at the inconvenient timing when Debra was murdered? Was his mental health history nothing more than he needed to take an occasional xanax for anxiety and his condition posed no threat to himself or anyone else?

Or was this an unemployed life long loser with a volatile mental health history, who was in and out of institutions, and was volunteering at the hospital because it provided him with a hunting ground for vunerable females? Then, having no job or other ties to the state, he skips town when Debra is found murdered?

Because based on the info UM gave us, it could be either one.

That's the problem with some of the stories, though. UM probably couldn't expand on it because they didn't have proof. Medical records are confidential, and if they gave too many details the person could be identified and then sue for libel or slander. That's why getting details about suspects sucks until they are officially arrested.

I don't remember the case, but it sounds like a botched investigation by the police that would prevent the case being solved, absent a confession that could somehow be corroborated.
Isn't it sad that because of police messing up an investigation, a family will never know the truth of what happened to their loved one?

Isn't it sad that because of police messing up an investigation, a family will never know the truth of what happened to their loved one?

This, unfortunately, happens all too frequently. The Michael Rosenblum case is a perfect example.

Isn't it sad that because of police messing up an investigation, a family will never know the truth of what happened to their loved one?

Unfortunately police are all too human. The mistakes we do in our everyday jobs happen to them as well.

On the whole police do a fantastic job giving the restrictions placed on them.

You have to consider that a lot of times police are extremely overworked, undertrained and politically pressured

In small cities, the police don;t get nearly the experience they need to solve homicides.

And conversely in large cities, the police are so overwhelmed with cases that they have to prioritize and limit their work on cases.

In Detroit, if your a family member who's loved one is killed, your pretty much treated with the "take a number" approach. It's almost like being at a crowded deli.

i tend to think the most shoddy police work occurs in those small cities and counties where the cops handle one murder every 6 months.

That's why I am very much in favor of the FBI going back to their more prominent role in violent crimes that they had in the 1990s. Sadlly with the war on terrorism and economic fraud, that may not happen for a while.

Yeah, detroit averages about a murder a day, I think. Then add on top of that the major drug crimes, rapes, assaults, and even the (former) mayor being a convicted felon, and you've got one screwed up city.

It seems like about 10 years ago here in Detroit, we had two newbie cops out on patrol who were ambushed and murdered in their patrol car. They were quite young, a man and woman, I think. While reading the news articles on the case, I found out that the new cops salaries were in the $23,000 per year range.

Good grief. Can you imagine that? You're working in detroit, putting your life on the line every day, and you're not even getting paid a living wage. $23,000/yr was barely a decent wage 25 years ago. Ten years ago, it probably didn't even cover food and rent.

Anyway, I'm sure lots of big cities have a hard time getting their crimes solved and prosecuted. Although, out of all the obstacles the cops face, I think political pressure is the one that irritates me the most.

Yeah, detroit averages about a murder a day, I think. Then add on top of that the major drug crimes, rapes, assaults, and even the (former) mayor being a convicted felon, and you've got one screwed up city.

It seems like about 10 years ago here in Detroit, we had two newbie cops out on patrol who were ambushed and murdered in their patrol car. They were quite young, a man and woman, I think. While reading the news articles on the case, I found out that the new cops salaries were in the $23,000 per year range.

Good grief. Can you imagine that? You're working in detroit, putting your life on the line every day, and you're not even getting paid a living wage. $23,000/yr was barely a decent wage 25 years ago. Ten years ago, it probably didn't even cover food and rent.

Anyway, I'm sure lots of big cities have a hard time getting their crimes solved and prosecuted. Although, out of all the obstacles the cops face, I think political pressure is the one that irritates me the most.

yeah, big cities in Michigan are pretty bad. Flint is atrocious, I won't go there. Saginaw, where I was born, is getting worse all the time.

yeah but there is a MASSIVE difference between police being "human" and making mistakes. and police completely denying there was a barrell when they knew there was. some police are a complete joke, in so many of these episodes ive watched this week there is WAY too many that involve police corruption.

Debbies mom had mentioned in the segment that on top of the one guy hitting on Debbie at work there was also a second guy hitting on her.

Its like she's a female version of Perman Gilbert.

Another case of shoddy police work. Especially about this whole barrel business. It was a pathetic excuse for an investigation that cannot be excused by the concept of "human error."

I can't explain why, but idol's avatar of Perm at the door always gives me an internal chuckle :)

I can't explain why, but idol's avatar of Perm at the door always gives me an internal chuckle :)

That one, the avatar of the annoyed woman on the train in the Craig Williamson segment, and the one of Son of Sam leering at the woman walking her dog always crack me up.

Murder of nurse found in rural Fayetteville, NC pond still shrouded in mystery


It was December 1985 in rural Fayetteville, North Carolina when the body of a young healthy nurse named Debbie Wolfe was suspiciously found in a pond near the small cabin where she lived with her two dogs, Mason and Morgan.


I have been working on this case over the past 2 months. Do a search for Debbie Wolfe and you will find a new news story about the case.

Going off of my memory from the segment, I've always leaned towards her coworker who left the strange voicemail as someone who was responsible for her death. The police botched this one big time and won't admit their mistakes. Which is why I don't think this case has been solved yet.

I still say it was that guy who worked with Debbie who wanted to date her and she told him that she had a boyfriend and wasn't interested in him. He was said to be kind of a looney and stalking her.

The detective who claims the barrel in the pond was actually a field jacket is so full of ****. This case is full of police corruption. How did person who removed the barrel get tipped off if it wasn't for the police?

yeah, big cities in Michigan are pretty bad. Flint is atrocious, I won't go there. Saginaw, where I was born, is getting worse all the time.
No flint town for you,huh?

Debbies mom had mentioned in the segment that on top of the one guy hitting on Debbie at work there was also a second guy hitting on her.

Its like she's a female version of Perman Gilbert.
Hilarious!! Perman was the hottest repair man ever....

On January 1, 1986, Kevin Gorton and another friend, Gordon Childress, returned to the pond. Both men were familiar with rescue work. Childress dragged the pond looking for evidence. In fact, according to Gordon Childress, he found two sets of footprints pressed into the thick mud, along with the drag marks. Once he went under the murky water, it wasn’t long before Childress came across a body.

Is this Gordon?:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1786920683

The authorities really dropped the ball on this one. They should have immediately acquired any/all phone records of incoming calls made to Debbie's residence over the course of the previous 24-48 hours upon hearing that odd message on her answering machine. Red flag number one was the fact that the caller said something about Debbie not having been at work for a few days. At that point, Debbie had only missed a few hours of work.

The authorities really dropped the ball on this one. They should have immediately acquired any/all phone records of incoming calls made to Debbie's residence over the course of the previous 24-48 hours upon hearing that odd message on her answering machine. Red flag number one was the fact that the caller said something about Debbie not having been at work for a few days. At that point, Debbie had only missed a few hours of work.

I always wondered what became of that lead. It seemed liked the most logical one to follow up on, after all. :confused:

I am seeking funding for private DNA analysis in the unsolved 1985 cold case murder of Debbie Wolfe. Please support this effort and finally bring some justice to Debbie Wolfe and her family.

Here's a link to a nice overview of the Debbie Wolfe case, which includes some pictures of the pond and the cabin and the actual voicemail her coworker left her the day after she disappeared!

http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/murderofdebbiewolfe.html

I just rewatched the segment and I think it's very obvious who is responsible. The coworker who left the message on her answering machine said she was "out a lot of days, you made me worried when you missed another one" is clearly guilty as hell. For one, at the time that his voicemail was recorded, Debbie had only been missing for hours, not even a full day yet. Debbie's family last saw her on Christmas Day and that Debbie was supposed to work the next day at 8:00 a.m. When Debbie didn't show up for work the next day is when her mother became alarmed and went over to her cabin to look for her, which is when she discovered the voicemail. So why would this guy leave a voice message saying she was "out a lot of days", when she in fact only missed one? IMHO, he left the message not thinking anyone would have discovered it for days, thereby making it seem perfectly normal that he was concerned that she wasn't at work. I also think this guy knew he was stalking Debbie and knew that police would almost certainly question him, so the voicemail was also set up as a way to show that he wasn't a stalker but more of a "concerned friend". There can be no innocent explanation for the voicemail. Circumstantial as it may be, it's still pretty concrete evidence against the guy considering there is no reason why this guy would call her up and say she was missing for days when in fact she was only gone for a couple of hours at that point.

I am seeking funding for private DNA analysis in the unsolved 1985 cold case murder of Debbie Wolfe. Please support this effort and finally bring some justice to Debbie Wolfe and her family. Please link to the web site in the above message.


Thanks

It was interesting hearing the actual message that was left on Debbie's answering machine. Unless I'm mistaken, UM must have created their own version for the re-enactment, as the voice and content aren't exact, but very close.

I think the police should have looked more closely at this guy. I just don't understand why he would leave the message and talk about her missing several days when she wasn't known to be missing at the time.

The article also mentioned that semen was found inside Debbie's body. I wonder if DNA can be extracted and if this can be entered into CODIS or checked against the suspect above (assuming they could get PC to obtain a sample).

Police ruled this death as an accident. There has really never been an investigation. Medical examiner ruled the death as undetermined. There is biological evidence in this case as explained on the Debbie Wolfe web site listed above. However, funds need to be raised in order to have it privately tested. Please visit the web site to donate. Thanks

It was interesting hearing the actual message that was left on Debbie's answering machine. Unless I'm mistaken, UM must have created their own version for the re-enactment, as the voice and content aren't exact, but very close.

I think the police should have looked more closely at this guy. I just don't understand why he would leave the message and talk about her missing several days when she wasn't known to be missing at the time.

The article also mentioned that semen was found inside Debbie's body. I wonder if DNA can be extracted and if this can be entered into CODIS or checked against the suspect above (assuming they could get PC to obtain a sample).

The cop interviewed in the segment said they interviewed both suspect individuals from the hospital, and that they weren't able to get enough evidence to pursue further or something along those lines. The way I took what he was saying was that the police felt these guys were highly suspect but they didn't have enough to actually charge them with the crime. I could be wrong, but I still think they should have questioned the voicemail coworker more thorough.

I agree. A family member of the individual who left that voice mail message contacted me last month. However, after about 3 emails they stopped. I have challenged that person to submit a DNA sample. However, the problem that is current is getting the biological sample analyzed.

The cop interviewed in the segment said they interviewed both suspect individuals from the hospital, and that they weren't able to get enough evidence to pursue further or something along those lines. The way I took what he was saying was that the police felt these guys were highly suspect but they didn't have enough to actually charge them with the crime. I could be wrong, but I still think they should have questioned the voicemail coworker more thorough.

The cop interviewed in the segment said they interviewed both suspect individuals from the hospital, and that they weren't able to get enough evidence to pursue further or something along those lines. The way I took what he was saying was that the police felt these guys were highly suspect but they didn't have enough to actually charge them with the crime. I could be wrong, but I still think they should have questioned the voicemail coworker more thorough.

Admittedly, it's been some time since I last saw the segment, but I got the impression that once the barrel disappeared from what should have been a secured crime scene, any interest in examining this case as anything but an accidental death went out the window.

IMO, this is one of the most obvious cases of a police department trying to coverup and save face rather than do right by the victim's family and admit they screwed up while still pursuing a murder theory.

Admittedly, it's been some time since I last saw the segment, but I got the impression that once the barrel disappeared from what should have been a secured crime scene, any interest in examining this case as anything but an accidental death went out the window.

I don't disagree with this...this was obviously a case bungled by police, but I still thought the officer interviewed thought that one or both of the suspects were involved somehow.

I am thrill to report that a group of forensic students along with their instructor from GA are doing a series of fund raising events and will raise the money so the biologically evidence in the Wolfe case can now be analyzed for a DNA profile.

http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/debbiewolfecase.htm



I don't disagree with this...this was obviously a case bungled by police, but I still thought the officer interviewed thought that one or both of the suspects were involved somehow.

I am thrill to report that a group of forensic students along with their instructor from GA are doing a series of fund raising events and will raise the money so the biologically evidence in the Wolfe case can now be analyzed for a DNA profile.

http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/debbiewolfecase.htm

Thanks so much for sharing that info. I hope they are successful and that the DNA testing will help identify the suspect. Debbie and her loved ones deserve the justice that has been denied for so long in her case.

Thanks so much for sharing that info. I hope they are successful and that the DNA testing will help identify the suspect. Debbie and her loved ones deserve the justice that has been denied for so long in her case.

At the very least, hopefully this will reopen the case and get her death changed to "homicide" from "undetermined".

Thanks for the positive comments. I am in the process of getting all the paper work done to have the biological evidence tested in Debbie's case.

Thanks for the positive comments. I am in the process of getting all the paper work done to have the biological evidence tested in Debbie's case.

Just curious, if one of the profiles happens to match one of the suspects in the case, will this reopen the investigation? Or is the case considered closed to the authorities?

This has to be one of the worst conducted police investigations I've ever heard of. I feel awful for Debbie's parents and loved ones and of course for Debbie herself. I think it seems fairly obvious that she was attacked and didn't go into the river herself.

1) Wasn't her nurse's uniform crumpled on the floor in a messy heap? Sounds like one of the volunteers and a sexual motive.
2) The volunteer who said that she missed a lot of days of work when she hadn't, as though trying to cover himself.
3) The other volunteer's threatening phone calls about coming over and actually knowing where she lived.
4) To me this is the clincher: The wrong clothing on her body: A person drowning themselves after putting on clothes that don't fit at all? Ridiculous. The bra part is VERY bizarre. Could the killer's have just scrambled to find clothes to put on her to make it look as though it wasn't a sex crime? And got clothes from home, including a bra from a wife or something? Why wouldn't they grab clothes from her own closet, though, is the question. They may not have wanted to enter more parts of the house for fear of evidence, but this is highly, highly bizarre that police would say it was an accident when Debbie was in these clothes that obviously did not belong to her. As a woman, I can tell you that I don't randomly put on bras that are THREE cups sizes too large. That's an obvious indicator that someone put that on her, in my opinion.
5) A burn barrel looks NOTHING like a ballooned jacket. The mark of the burn barrel was still in the ground. The divers testified that they saw a barrel with the body. And the police won't accept that.


How long would it have taken the police to go in the water themselves and look? How can the police not be suspicious about clothes that obviously aren't the victim's being on her body? Geez, this case ticks me off! Poor, poor work!

Edit: Also semen was found in her body- to me that just proves even more strongly that this was a murder and sex crime. I think she was possibly abducted by one of the volunteers and then killed/thrown in the lake. Maybe that's why the clothes aren't hers-she was taken elsewhere and they couldn't go through her closet to get her own clothes out to cover up the crime. This to me is just so CHILLING. It sounds like she came home, was accosted, her uniform tossed aside, and then kidnapped.

The clothes have always bothered me a lot, even more than the burn barrel question. Why was that done? It brings the Keith Warren case to mind--he was dressed in very different clothes as well when he was killed, clothes he reportedly didn't own.

My first thought was that there might be some kind of attempt to decrease forensic evidence, but that seems far-fetched in both instances. Then I thought that maybe it could be a method to delay identification for a bit, but I don't think that's a particularly strong possibility either.

I do definitely think in Debbie's case it's someone at that hospital. I think this person premeditated the crime and relatively well. I think he knew she lived in an isolated location, near that pond. He may have even physically cased her home beforehand.

The clothes have always bothered me a lot, even more than the burn barrel question. Why was that done? It brings the Keith Warren case to mind--he was dressed in very different clothes as well when he was killed, clothes he reportedly didn't own.

My first thought was that there might be some kind of attempt to decrease forensic evidence, but that seems far-fetched in both instances. Then I thought that maybe it could be a method to delay identification for a bit, but I don't think that's a particularly strong possibility either.

I do definitely think in Debbie's case it's someone at that hospital. I think this person premeditated the crime and relatively well. I think he knew she lived in an isolated location, near that pond. He may have even physically cased her home beforehand.

The only other reason I can think of the clothes being put on her is graphic, but I think if she was abducted, her clothes were taken off (the nurse's uniform was on the floor- Debbie was known to be very neat so that makes it extra odd her uniform was in a heap on the floor). I think one of the volunteers assaulted her. After she was killed, then to make it look like there hadn't been a crime, clothes were put on her. It seems that this ploy really did work since the LE think it's an accident. A nude body would have made homicide obvious.

I also think this was very premeditated. I think the volunteer maybe cased her home and knew when she'd be home from work (being in the same workplace and all, he probably could see shift schedules and noted when she got off on certain days). Then he probably lay in wait for her, either inside or right outside and overpowered her. Debbie's home being so rural, it would have been impossible for anyone to help her.

Even though I'm sure this was a murder I do have to wonder the cause of death. Very little water was found in her lungs and though she had defensive wounds, I wonder what the ultimate cause was.

Thanks for all the positive comments. We still need a some more funding to get the DNA test. If you can help, please let me know.

Debbie was dead before she went into the water.

http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/debbiewolfecase.htm

Help bring justice to this cold case.

This campaign is to raise funds for a private DNA analysis of evidence recently discovered in the Debbie Wolfe 1985 murder case. Debbie's family is seeking justice for her murder.

To Donate: http://www.indiegogo.com/debbiewolfemmurder?a=845512

Case Facebook https://www.facebook.com/debbiewolfecase

Case web site http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/debbiewolfecase.htm#.UHo2dIbh98E

Thanks,

Dr. Godwin

Bumping for you, don't have money but hope people will help.

There are also sites like JusticeQuest where you can post and they may be of help.

I have nothing new to add, really, but in re-watching this case, it sounds like the police officer who is interviewed said that his office questioned the guy who left the voice-mail at the request of the family. (I say "sounds like" because the audio is very poor on the video that I watched). Is this implying that they wouldn't have questioned this guy otherwise? That message is quite suspicious to say the least ...

I would also like to know how the "accidental drowning" scenario takes shape, according to the police. Surely Debbie Wolfe did not decide to go swimming in this muddy pond in late December. Do they think that she had a medical problem and fell in? Apparently there was no evidence of that, so ... ? From the segment, it seems like she was found more or less in the middle of the pond. How does that work if it was an accidental drowning? Talk about unanswered questions.

EDIT: I should have read the link posted earlier in the thread before posting. This is what it had to say about the detectives' accidental drowning theories. I guess an important question would be: was Debbie able to swim?

***

Investigators for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office disagreed with the murder theory. Detectives proposed their own theory (Unsolved Mysteries, 1990):

“Possibly, Mrs. Wolfe was playing with her two dogs and she fell in the pond, or maybe she was trying to save one of her dogs that walked in the pond and became frightened and disoriented in the water.”

County detectives proposed that Debbie may have succumbed to immersion syndrome. Immersion syndrome (also referred to as “immersion foot” or “trench foot”) is a nonfreezing peripheral cold injury caused by prolonged or repetitive exposure to damp, cold temperatures (cool or cold water or mud) (Davis, 2005). The extremity first becomes cold, numb, pale, edematous, and clammy. This is followed by blistering.

However, autopsy findings did not find any symptoms related to immersion syndrome plus Debbie’s feet and legs were covered.

Trench foot is caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to cold and moisture. It can't happen in minutes.

Good LORD those detectives.


Edited to add: Even if it COULD occur in minutes, nerve damage as a result of trench foot occurs only in extreme cases, sometimes with necrosis. Those police officers expect intelligent individuals to buy the theory that Debbie was debilitated in a matter of mere moments by dead nerves and tissue--prohbiting any movement--just by ending up in a pond in January? I guess none of us in similar climates should go outside in winter--we could get a little water on us and never come out alive! :rolleyes:

Pardon the crude expression, but the authorities have REALLY f'ed this one up. Majorly.

That's it. I don't think the soldiers in the First World War got trench foot a few minutes after setting foot in a wet, muddy trench. I mean, seriously! It's outrageous. You would think, if they were looking for a medical theory, they might have suggested hypothermia, which can occur fairly quicky in cold water. But again, could she swim? If so, I find it very difficult to believe that this could have been an accidental drowning.

It's scary how often it seems like the success of an investigation rises or falls on the first impressions of law enforcement on the scene. The entire justice system really does require open-minded people to avoid travesties. It seems very difficult for some people to change their minds after they have formed an impression. Nonetheless, I'd say that most investigations are good and some are even excellent. This one seems to leave a lot to be desired.

I still can't believe that LE won't admit they f'ed up in this case. Debbie's friend, an experienced diver, swore he found Debbie in an oil drum in the pond. I can't think of any reason as to why LE would adamantly refute the fact that an oil drum was in the pond...unless they missed it and want to cover it up.

That's it. I don't think the soldiers in the First World War got trench foot a few minutes after setting foot in a wet, muddy trench. I mean, seriously! It's outrageous. You would think, if they were looking for a medical theory, they might have suggested hypothermia, which can occur fairly quicky in cold water. But again, could she swim? If so, I find it very difficult to believe that this could have been an accidental drowning.

It's scary how often it seems like the success of an investigation rises or falls on the first impressions of law enforcement on the scene. The entire justice system really does require open-minded people to avoid travesties. It seems very difficult for some people to change their minds after they have formed an impression. Nonetheless, I'd say that most investigations are good and some are even excellent. This one seems to leave a lot to be desired.

I couldn't have said it better. It's so unfair to Debbie and her family.

I can't think of any reason as to why LE would adamantly refute the fact that an oil drum was in the pond...unless they missed it and want to cover it up.

Bingo.

What was not addressed is, Debbie had on men shoes and clothing and a bra 2 sizes to big for her.

I have nothing new to add, really, but in re-watching this case, it sounds like the police officer who is interviewed said that his office questioned the guy who left the voice-mail at the request of the family. (I say "sounds like" because the audio is very poor on the video that I watched). Is this implying that they wouldn't have questioned this guy otherwise? That message is quite suspicious to say the least ...

I would also like to know how the "accidental drowning" scenario takes shape, according to the police. Surely Debbie Wolfe did not decide to go swimming in this muddy pond in late December. Do they think that she had a medical problem and fell in? Apparently there was no evidence of that, so ... ? From the segment, it seems like she was found more or less in the middle of the pond. How does that work if it was an accidental drowning? Talk about unanswered questions.

EDIT: I should have read the link posted earlier in the thread before posting. This is what it had to say about the detectives' accidental drowning theories. I guess an important question would be: was Debbie able to swim?

***

Investigators for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office disagreed with the murder theory. Detectives proposed their own theory (Unsolved Mysteries, 1990):

“Possibly, Mrs. Wolfe was playing with her two dogs and she fell in the pond, or maybe she was trying to save one of her dogs that walked in the pond and became frightened and disoriented in the water.”

County detectives proposed that Debbie may have succumbed to immersion syndrome. Immersion syndrome (also referred to as “immersion foot” or “trench foot”) is a nonfreezing peripheral cold injury caused by prolonged or repetitive exposure to damp, cold temperatures (cool or cold water or mud) (Davis, 2005). The extremity first becomes cold, numb, pale, edematous, and clammy. This is followed by blistering.

However, autopsy findings did not find any symptoms related to immersion syndrome plus Debbie’s feet and legs were covered.

Have been thinking about this case lately as I was in NC last week. Some articles in this thread are pretty interesting:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=157850

Some things:

1. Debbie Wolfe stood about 5' 3". For this reason, she always drove with the driver's seat in her vehicle pushed all the way forward. The car was found with the seat pushed back, and parked in such a way that Debbie never parked her vehicle.

2. Debbie's death occurred over the last week in December. At work, she wore a cold-weather uniform with long sleeves and pants (and a friend attested that while he was having lunch with her on Christmas Day during her work day, he accidentally spilled coffee on that uniform. During that same meal, Debbie spilled peas on the front of it). The uniform found in the kitchen was a lightweight, warm-weather uniform that Debbie didn't wear the day she worked. Alongside this uniform was a pair of panty hose that Debbie also wouldn't have been wearing at that time of the year. The uniform she had actually worn on December 25, 1985 was never found.

3. The field jacket actually owned by Debbie (the one that had once belonged to her 6'0" tall, 185 pound brother) was found hanging in her closet. The one found on her body was brand new and a men's size small.

4. Debbie's purse was found wedged in an obscure corner of her waterbed.

5. Debbie was found "looking as though she were asleep", and her mother was able to arrange for an open casket during the funeral. If she had in fact been left in the water since December 25 until she was found on January 1, she would have been quite disfigured by bloating and discoloration. She wasn't.


These things seem to indicate:

1. Someone else commandeered Debbie's vehicle at some point and parked it in her yard.

2. Someone had access to, and freely ranged over the interior of Debbie's home.

3. Debbie's December 25 uniform was removed from her body, and possibly destroyed. The uniform in the kitchen may be some sort of plant.

4. Debbie was not in the water from December 25 to January 1. She could have even been alive for days prior to her eventual death and discovery.



I do not understand why this case apparently hasn't been reopened, or why Cumberland Co authorities let "answering machine guy" slip through their fingers.


ETA--If anyone is interested, you can listen to the actual answering machine message on this page. It's almost verbatim to what you hear in the segment. The link can be found toward the bottom of the page.

http://www.investigativepsych.com/murderofdebbiewolfe.html

Have been thinking about this case lately as I was in NC last week. Some articles in this thread are pretty interesting:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=157850

Some things:

1. Debbie Wolfe stood about 5' 3". For this reason, she always drove with the driver's seat in her vehicle pushed all the way forward. The car was found with the seat pushed back, and parked in such a way that Debbie never parked her vehicle.

2. Debbie's death occurred over the last week in December. At work, she wore a cold-weather uniform with long sleeves and pants (and a friend attested that while he was having lunch with her on Christmas Day during her work day, he accidentally spilled coffee on that uniform. During that same meal, Debbie spilled peas on the front of it). The uniform found in the kitchen was a lightweight, warm-weather uniform that Debbie didn't wear the day she worked. Alongside this uniform was a pair of panty hose that Debbie also wouldn't have been wearing at that time of the year. The uniform she had actually worn on December 25, 1985 was never found.

3. The field jacket actually owned by Debbie (the one that had once belonged to her 6'0" tall, 185 pound brother) was found hanging in her closet. The one found on her body was brand new and a men's size small.

4. Debbie's purse was found wedged in an obscure corner of her waterbed.

5. Debbie was found "looking as though she were asleep", and her mother was able to arrange for an open casket during the funeral. If she had in fact been left in the water since December 25 until she was found on January 1, she would have been quite disfigured by bloating and discoloration. She wasn't.


These things seem to indicate:

1. Someone else commandeered Debbie's vehicle at some point and parked it in her yard.

2. Someone had access to, and freely ranged over the interior of Debbie's home.

3. Debbie's December 25 uniform was removed from her body, and possibly destroyed. The uniform in the kitchen may be some sort of plant.

4. Debbie was not in the water from December 25 to January 1. She could have even been alive for days prior to her eventual death and discovery.



I do not understand why this case apparently hasn't been reopened, or why Cumberland Co authorities let "answering machine guy" slip through their fingers.


ETA--If anyone is interested, you can listen to the actual answering machine message on this page. It's almost verbatim to what you hear in the segment. The link can be found toward the bottom of the page.

http://www.investigativepsych.com/murderofdebbiewolfe.html
Thanks for the great post. Meetings with the county detective are in the works about this case. The case does have forensic evidence that needs to be tested.

Read more here

http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/debbiewolfecase.htm#.U7w_57FmsmE


Regards,

Thanks for the great post. Meetings with the county detective are in the works about this case. The case does have forensic evidence that needs to be tested.

Read more here

http://www.drmauricegodwin.com/debbiewolfecase.htm#.U7w_57FmsmE


Regards,

Thanks for the update, sundrop. Will be standing by for hopefully some good news.

Also, sundrop, do you know the identity of the man who left the message on Debbie's answering machine and if he is still alive?

Debbie's tough mom could have solved this case quicker.

There is too much vagueness in the UM segment for this case. For one, who were these people harassing Debbie at work? Did they have prior criminal records, histories of violence, etc.? What happened to the barrel? How is the proposed theory by investigators even plausible at all? How do you fall into a pond and drown? Could Debbie swim? Why did the man who left the voice mail disappear after talking with investigators? If there were no signs of foul play on Debbie's body, how did she die? Was exactly is the family's theory on what happened to her?

Too many baffling questions in this case.

Was there an autopsy of her body done to determine cause of death? You would think that considering the state of the crime scene and condition her body was found in that the family or medical examiner would conduct one? Didn't that send up a red flag that Debbie had on clothes that didn't belong to her? The shoes, bra, and field jacket all did not belong to her. Considering where she lived it would have been easy for someone to harm her, as she had no close neighbors and lived in the sticks so nobody would have seen anything suspicious. I do concur, the cops definitely screwed the pooch on this one!!!

Thanks for those points, Meg. This case has always been one on my mind that just absolutely, undoubtedly seemed like a murder. I think this is probably the worst case of LE work on UM, if not at least it's in the top 5. This should have been solved or at least actively investigated.

The additional evidence sundrop has mentioned before, such as semen being found on the body, only makes it seem even more certain that she was attacked and probably held captive for days like her mother theorized.

Maybe someone with more knowledge of the case could answer this, did they release a toxicology report on Debbie after the autopsy? Just to see if it was possible she was drugged? And IIRC, the autopsy was listed as "undetermined" and couldn't tell if it was a homicide or accidental. So there were obviously no signs of a struggle, (bruising, scratch marks, etc.) or else it would be pretty cut and dried that it was a homicide.

The cops were either incompetent or corrupt. And I lean strongly towards corruption. Seems they had no interest in doing a real investigation. I don t believe for a second it was suicide.

There were signs of a struggle. According to the autopsy, she had multiple abrasions on several of her fingers.

Also, in a typical drowning case the deceased would have a white froth or foam like substance in their airways and/or exuding from their mouth or nostrils. No froth or foam substance was found on or in Debbie's mouth or airway. The autopsy found only a half teaspoon of water in her upper bronchial area.

I'm inclined to believe the cops just messed up and of course covered up their mistakes. I don't think any rational person can imagine a happy and healthy woman going for a swim or accidently getting into a freezing pond in December. Also, given the state of her cabin and the way she appeared when she found, it all points to a homicide.

The scuba divers also saw what they believe to be a set of footprints walking into the pond along with drag marks. She was also placed in a 55 gallon drum in a pond. Although, police deny they saw any barrel. Her barrel was missing and the scuba divers had no reason to lie. They are very certain of what they saw. The clothes she was wearing weren't hers or even her size. Her purse was found stuffed under her bed which is not where she normally puts it.

Also, the voicemail from the coworker is weird. She only missed one day of work and how did the coworker know she just didn't call into her supervisor and say she was ill? He also says you've missed "several" days when at that point she had only missed one.

I'm inclined to believe one more two men were involved and one at least being someone from where she worked. He might of been obsessed or stalking her and finally made his move. He could've gotten into a rage when she rejected him or it could've been planned. But I believe it's someone who was local and she worked with.

I just don't understand why anyone would murder this woman.

I know we have the "rejected suitor" situation, but I wonder if this was exactly as it played out in the UM segment--with one of the men calling Debbie at home at night, saying he's coming over to her house. Other than that speculation based on second hand accounts of what the victim said to the source (and largely in a passing fashion, to boot), what else is there? It reminds me a little of the Rhonda Hinson case in that regard. Many of us subscribe to any number of "married man" theories in that particular case because there simply isn't any other apparent explanation to go on (available to us, anyway).

Also, the voicemail from the coworker is weird. She only missed one day of work and how did the coworker know she just didn't call into her supervisor and say she was ill? He also says you've missed "several" days when at that point she had only missed one.

Not even a full day, if I'm not mistaken. Debbie's mother said she was missing only a few hours when that phone message was recorded.

The most baffling part of this case is definitely the fact that Debbie was found wearing clothing which didn't belong to her and was too big. I have to wonder how the killer planned this crime. Did he bring this extra clothing with him when he went to kill Debbie? Did he kill her before travelling elsewhere to obtain the clothing? Did he abduct Debbie and take her to another location where the clothing already was?

It seems pretty likely the killer was male and that the women's clothing didn't belong to him or Debbie, so where did he get it? He either must have lived with another female at the time, stolen the clothes from somewhere, or gone out and bought them. If this had been a halfway competent police investigation, they should have advertised the hell out of those clothes and asked people to come forward if they'd recently had any clothing stolen, or if anyone remembered selling clothes of that description to a male around the time of Debbie's death.

I am curious if the DNA testing ever happened? It's been a few years now.

It's just really sad because it appears that 2 of Debbie's brothers and her mother are now deceased. Is there any family of hers left that could help push to get it reopened?

Police incompetence at its finest.

Could the answering machine phone call be a red herring?

Here's the full transcript of the message:

"Hey Deb, missed you here at work today. Just wondering how you're doing. If you're able to give me a call up here at the ward, I'm at the 227007, or give me a call at home tonight. You've been out a lot of days, you made me worried when you missed another one. I just want to make sure you're ok. Bye."

Is it entirely possible that Debbie missed work prior to her death, and that this guy was saying that either he was worried that she was going to be fired for missing time, or that he legitimately thought something was bugging her to miss another day from work? Because he starts off with, "I missed you here at work today", but doesn't come right out and say something like, "I haven't seen you for days". His wording could be taken in the context that she had missed time days, weeks, prior to her death and that he was just concerned after another missed day where Debbie no-called, no-showed. I could see it go either way, honestly.

Could the answering machine phone call be a red herring?

Here's the full transcript of the message:

"Hey Deb, missed you here at work today. Just wondering how you're doing. If you're able to give me a call up here at the ward, I'm at the 227007, or give me a call at home tonight. You've been out a lot of days, you made me worried when you missed another one. I just want to make sure you're ok. Bye."

Is it entirely possible that Debbie missed work prior to her death, and that this guy was saying that either he was worried that she was going to be fired for missing time, or that he legitimately thought something was bugging her to miss another day from work? Because he starts off with, "I missed you here at work today", but doesn't come right out and say something like, "I haven't seen you for days". His wording could be taken in the context that she had missed time days, weeks, prior to her death and that he was just concerned after another missed day where Debbie no-called, no-showed. I could see it go either way, honestly.

I've thought about this too, but I'm pretty sure Debbie's mother used the words, "She never missed work", in the segment. The implication seemed to be that Debbie rarely, if ever, missed any days at all before her death, so there was no reason for this guy to be mentioning that on the call.

I've thought about this too, but I'm pretty sure Debbie's mother used the words, "She never missed work", in the segment. The implication seemed to be that Debbie rarely, if ever, missed any days at all before her death, so there was no reason for this guy to be mentioning that on the call.

Just thought of another possibility. Debbie intentionally avoiding this guy at work and then saying she called out, was sick, left early, etc. I just don't get the "I just murdered you but I'll leave this message on here to throw off potential investigators" vibe from the call. He says she can call him at home. She obviously had the guy's home phone number. The segment mentions the guy wanted to be romantically involved with Debbie, but she told everyone, including the guy, that she only wanted to be friends. I'm just not feeling the vibe for this guy to be a viable suspect with the known evidence.

I've thought about this too, but I'm pretty sure Debbie's mother used the words, "She never missed work", in the segment. The implication seemed to be that Debbie rarely, if ever, missed any days at all before her death, so there was no reason for this guy to be mentioning that on the call.

Her mother said she NEVER missed work. She even reported to work on Christmas Day after celebrating with her family and was then never seen again.

On a sad side note, I was looking at Debbie's link on Find a Grave and discovered that both of her brothers are also dead. Her brother Jerry died three years prior in 1982 at the age of 28 and her other brother John died in 2011 at the age of 55. It sounds like tragedy isn't new with that family.

Just thought of another possibility. Debbie intentionally avoiding this guy at work and then saying she called out, was sick, left early, etc. I just don't get the "I just murdered you but I'll leave this message on here to throw off potential investigators" vibe from the call. He says she can call him at home. She obviously had the guy's home phone number. The segment mentions the guy wanted to be romantically involved with Debbie, but she told everyone, including the guy, that she only wanted to be friends. I'm just not feeling the vibe for this guy to be a viable suspect with the known evidence.

I do agree that if this guy was the killer, leaving a message on Debbie's machine on the day of her disappearance and pretending the call was made a few days later doesn't make much sense. Even if Debbie's mother hadn't listened to the message that same day, phone records would show when the call was actually made. In fact, this is the same reason I've always been skeptical that Tim McClure cancelled his mother's credit card before her murder, as phone records can verify the exact date the call was actually made.

Debbie's mother did say in the segment that the police stopped questioning the guy before he provided an alibi, but I have no idea how strong that alibi actually was. After all, this was one of the most incompetent police investigations on UM.

Just watched this on the Season 3 on Amazon. I can't believe how idiotic the cops were. It's almost like they concocted a story to fit the evidence.

I wonder if the DNA ever was tested?

A thought on the answering machine message--this was pretty well into winter. Had Debbie contracted the flu or a bad cold shortly before her disappearance and called in sick a number of shifts? That could possibly account for the caller's statement about Debbie's being "out a lot of days" and his expressed concern. The alleged missed days wouldn't have had to have immediately preceded her disappearance, as Debbie's mom seemed to think he was implying.

Just watched this yesterday too. The business with the barrel being left in the water is just unforgivable on the part of the police, if there in fact was a barrel. Assuming the barrel did exist, it would have almost undoubtably been a murder.

That said, I can understand the point of view that the barrel was a misunderstanding and didn't exist. When you are underwater, especially in a pond full of mud and silt like the one Debbie was found in, it would be fairly easy to misinterpret something.

The only hole in that theory though is her mother's claim that the barrel that had been on Debbie's property was mysteriously absent, and that there was an indentation in the ground where it had been before. I see no reason why her mother would lie about that. If there was a barrel there and then it was gone, then I'd err on the side that Debbie was found in a barrel, and that this was likely a murder. I have to wonder if the police department was deliberately concealing the barrel's existence, or if they were simply covering themselves for piss-poor police work.

....or if they were simply covering themselves for piss-poor police work.

When it came to this segment, this was always my ultimate conclusion...

A thought on the answering machine message--this was pretty well into winter. Had Debbie contracted the flu or a bad cold shortly before her disappearance and called in sick a number of shifts? That could possibly account for the caller's statement about Debbie's being "out a lot of days" and his expressed concern. The alleged missed days wouldn't have had to have immediately preceded her disappearance, as Debbie's mom seemed to think he was implying.

I have always wondered the same thing. The wording of the message makes it seem like he was saying she had missed the days prior to her disappearance, but at the beginning of the message he says, "I didn't see you at work today". I think the message could've been taken out of context.

Just rematched this segment today as well. This one has to be one of the top segments for the police incompetence or ignoring facts. I understand stressful jobs/being overwhelmed/missing evidence even but the way they are perpetrating their theories when this case looks so much like a homicide is criminal to me. I've always remembered that segment and it's never seemed accidentally to me.

Haven't gone through the entire thread yet (will do so though as I like to see everyone's theories), but it seems to me after only a few days, the body would almost have to have been in a barrel. Or at least have something weighing it down. Not an expert in the area beyond things I have read, but I believe bodies tend to float for some time after death as gases inside lift the body to the surface. So with the absence of weights or something holding the body under, the barrel is the most logical explanation. With multiple witnesses including a sheriffs deputy saying it was there, I say there is no doubt the barrel existed and she was found in it. And if this is the case, that pretty much points to murder.

Not to mention a barrel which had long been on the property went missing at the same time she did.

Just saw this one again yesterday on Prime and now have no idea what to think. The Captain of the Sheriff's Department (Jack Watts) has a line that I'm pretty sure was edited out of the unsolved.com write up on the case. Gordon Childress was adamant that he found Debbie in a 55 gallon barrel, and that when he found the body they called the police. The police show up with their divers and retrieve her body, but not the barrel. Watts says this, verbatim in the segment:

In my opinion, and the opinions of some of the investigators, what appeared to be a barrel to some of the divers could have been Debbie’s jacket which may have ballooned out as she was laying at that angle in the bottom of the pond. There was never a barrel touched by any of the divers, according to their statements. Uh, most definitely by none of our divers did we ever touch a barrel.

The bolded is the edited portion. This is edited out of the Farina version. Which got me to thinking: when the police were called and their divers were sent out, did they honestly neglect to mention that Debbie was found in a barrel and then play cover up when the barrel was "missing" the next day? That makes no sense. They had no idea that the barrel would be removed from the pond after they retrieved Debbie's body. So what motive would the divers who actually retrieved Debbie's body have in lying about the existence of the barrel at that point? Gordon Childress admits that his vision was limited due to the pond being muddy and dirty. Isn't it possible that there was in fact no barrel involved at all and he saw the field jacket ballooned up? Plus there was further mention of Debbie's clothes not matching what she had owned. The mother verifies that she did in fact have a field jacket, and Watts says that they determined the shoes she was found in were hers due to matching photos of her wearing them prior to her death. Knowing that the coroner found no "obvious signs" of foul play (and assuming there WAS a barrel), what exactly would've led to her murder? Someone would've had to have incapacitated her somehow without using a violent method (possibly drugging her with a syringe), then for reasons unknown removed her clothes and then threw them haphazardly around her house, and then redressed her with new clothes (but used her shoes), and then put her into the barrel and threw it into the pond. Then when her body was found, whoever killed her went back into the pond and located the barrel and removed it without anyone noticing. That is the only chain of events, IMO, that would fit what was found at the scene and the condition of Debbie's body. There's no way she was held hostage and kept alive for days. That seems preposterous to me. The police questioned both men from the hospital that the family suspected of harming her. One had an alibi, and the police could not come up with any evidence tying them to Debbie's death. The more I think about this the more I think it's just as likely that this was an accident as opposed to a murder. Because I don't see any motive for foul play here based off of everything that was found and the condition of her body showing no signs of foul play.

ETA: An article written in 1988 (which now has a broken link) detailed this case and had this comment about the autopsy:

Dr. William Oliver, a pathologist at N.C. Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill, conducted an autopsy and, after a lengthy delay, reported the body had undergone changes characteristic of "cold-water drowning" or "immersion syndrome," in which death is believed to occur from cardiac arrest.

Cold water drowning is NOT the same as trench foot. Essentially, what the pathologist is saying is that once Debbie was submerged in the water, she experienced a cold shock (http://beyondcoldwaterbootcamp.com/4-phases-of-cold-water-immersion) which resulted in her having a heart attack. This could also account for the fact that only a teaspoon of water being found in Debbie's bronchial area.

I want to say I remember something about the field jacket Debbie was known to have owned being found in her closet during the time she was missing and retrieved, i.e., it was not the one found with her body.

I want to say I remember something about the field jacket Debbie was known to have owned being found in her closet during the time she was missing and retrieved, i.e., it was not the one found with her body.


She says in the segment that Debbie owned a field jacket that belonged to her brother, and that it was a "totally different" one that she was wearing when she was found. But is it that much of a stretch, being that this was a military town, that she had a different one other than the one from her brother?

Just watched this one again. I could see an accident being possible (only question I have there is how did she fall in - simply tripping/stumbling?) but what about the clothes?

Assuming this was an accident, the only thing that would explain them away would be (as with other cases) her family refusing to accept this, their mistaken belief of foul play causing them to be mistaken about the clothes (though her mother being mistaken or outright lying about the bra size does seem kind of a stretch to me still)

She says in the segment that Debbie owned a field jacket that belonged to her brother, and that it was a "totally different" one that she was wearing when she was found. But is it that much of a stretch, being that this was a military town, that she had a different one other than the one from her brother?

I know this is a year late, but not by my estimation. Fayetteville, NC is FULL of shops that stock Army surplus.

I don't know if this has been pointed out before, but I wanted to put it out there anyway. One thing that always struck a chord with me was when Debbie's mother was talking about the clothes that Debbie had been wearing when she died. In particular, she mentioned that the shoes were a men's size 6 which is 3 sizes larger than Debbie's regular women's size 7. That is not true. I worked in the shoe department of a store in high school. There is only a two-size gap between men and women's sizes. A men's size 6 is a women's size 8 which is only one size (or two if you count half-sizes as a 1-size difference) different that Debbie's normal size. She lived in a remote, rural area so her wearing men's shoes isn't out of the question as I knew many women who did growing up in the country. It's possible that if the men's shoes ran a little snug that a size 6 in men's (8 in women's) would have been the right fit for her. A one-size difference from her other shoes can be written of by minor differences in manufacturer sizing.

More importantly, this calls into question the other assertions made by Debbie's mother. With this one inaccurate statement, she establishes herself an unreliable narrator of the story. I believe that her grief and frustration led her to exaggerate some of the facts to her side of the story. I want to be clear. I'm not calling her a liar. I don't think she set out to intentionally mislead, and I'm very sorry that she lost her daughter. I'm also sorry that she encountered so much police negligence and incompetence. This was a tragic situation whether it was accidental or homicide.

I don't know if this has been pointed out before, but I wanted to put it out there anyway. One thing that always struck a chord with me was when Debbie's mother was talking about the clothes that Debbie had been wearing when she died. In particular, she mentioned that the shoes were a men's size 6 which is 3 sizes larger than Debbie's regular women's size 7. That is not true. I worked in the shoe department of a store in high school. There is only a two-size gap between men and women's sizes. A men's size 6 is a women's size 8 which is only one size (or two if you count half-sizes as a 1-size difference) different that Debbie's normal size. She lived in a remote, rural area so her wearing men's shoes isn't out of the question as I knew many women who did growing up in the country. It's possible that if the men's shoes ran a little snug that a size 6 in men's (8 in women's) would have been the right fit for her. A one-size difference from her other shoes can be written of by minor differences in manufacturer sizing.

See, I always wondered about that, too. It's rare to find military boots specifically sized for women--even in clothing sales shops on military posts--so most women resort to wearing men's boots. I'm a 9 in women's, but I wear a men's 7.5 boot (because, just as you said, a men's 7 is usually too snug for me).

I always sort of waved her mom's comment off as a possible difference in size standardization in the 1980s--and have no way of knowing personally whether that was the case, since I was just a couple of months shy of being born when Debbie Wolfe was discovered in the pond. Having purchased more than a few items of vintage clothing and shoes, however, sizing (especially in women's items) can vary drastically, and it usually tends toward running small by "today's" standards (especially if it's more than 30-35 years old). I know it sounds really silly, but maybe another poster can shed some light on that.

See, I always wondered about that, too. It's rare to find military boots specifically sized for women--even in clothing sales shops on military posts--so most women resort to wearing men's boots. I'm a 9 in women's, but I wear a men's 7.5 boot (because, just as you said, a men's 7 is usually too snug for me).

I always sort of waved her mom's comment off as a possible difference in size standardization in the 1980s--and have no way of knowing personally whether that was the case, since I was just a couple of months shy of being born when Debbie Wolfe was discovered in the pond. Having purchased more than a few items of vintage clothing and shoes, however, sizing (especially in women's items) can vary drastically, and it usually tends toward running small by "today's" standards (especially if it's more than 30-35 years old). I know it sounds really silly, but maybe another poster can shed some light on that.

My knowledge of size standardization is from the mid-90s when I was in high school, 10-11 years after Debbie was found, so I'll acknowledge that maybe size standards were changed or revised in that timeframe, but I don't think they were. I may do some research on that later today.

I've always wondered if this case would've been seen as mysterious as it was had Debbie's friend who found her in the water not described what he saw as an oil drum.

A quick search doesn’t show much of this case being discussed which is surprising. The only things I can find are a couple of small threads that don’t seem to discuss the case as a whole. Am I missing something?

If not...

I am curious what the current line of thinking is on this case. Going with the simplest explanation, Debbie just accidentally drowning, would explain certain aspects of how the scene was found; her dogs not being fed for example. But there are way too many oddities about this case that to me make it obvious that it is not just an accidental case where the family is looking too hard at the situation to make it more than it is.

To me it seems obvious that Debbie was murdered. The burn barrel, house being in disarray, the inconsistencies in her clothing... It’s all just a bit strange to me that this can really be looked at as anything other than a murder.

A quick search doesn’t show much of this case being discussed which is surprising. The only things I can find are a couple of small threads that don’t seem to discuss the case as a whole. Am I missing something?

If not...

I am curious what the current line of thinking is on this case. Going with the simplest explanation, Debbie just accidentally drowning, would explain certain aspects of how the scene was found; her dogs not being fed for example. But there are way too many oddities about this case that to me make it obvious that it is not just an accidental case where the family is looking too hard at the situation to make it more than it is.

To me it seems obvious that Debbie was murdered. The burn barrel, house being in disarray, the inconsistencies in her clothing... It’s all just a bit strange to me that this can really be looked at as anything other than a murder.

Here's a thread with a few pages that hasn't been updated in a while:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=244646&highlight=Debbie

Debbie Wolfe's case was shared again on UM's official social media (facebook/twitter) channels recently. I chimed in with my own theory of it being an accident, water making her field jacket appear like a oil barrel underwater and including a link to this thread.

(*Link to the twitter exchange described below - https://twitter.com/FastMan85/status/1188857931179188224)

On twitter, an individual replied to me stating the following

"Killer's will move evidence. The two sets of footprints And the psychic phone message, make me think of her stocker, and the other lady he later married. (Who also worked with Debbie.) I wouldn't date someone accused of murder. She married him.

Her sick fetishes may have had her swap clothes with Debbie."

I've never heard of this theory before: the psychotic individual with a history of mental illness (who later left the state following his questioning by the authorities) had a girlfriend/significant other who apparently, was equally disturbed and for whatever reason, was the one who actually killed her.

It strains credulity a bit (because I've never heard of it before like I said) but it would seem to present a plausible explanation for the clothes present (that too big for, or otherwise did not match Debbie's size).

Here are two other posts from him (made outside our back and forth)

"I dont know what happened. It looks like a homicide. (No alcohol in system. But beer cans were all over the place.) Medical people know how to baffle medical examiners.Its like the Kurt McFall episode on unsolved mysteries. I believe it was an attempted sexual assault gone fatal."


"Because it's only speculation, i cant give names. But one of the two guys, and a possible bisexual lady he later married, its possible it was her bra and such. She also worked at that medical facility. May have had more access to untraceable medications."



(I did some checking and the guy who posted all this goes by 'Nate' - has 0 followers, 0 people he's following and recently joined back in September of this year.
Unless he got this theory from reddit or somewhere else, randomly joining twitter, then posting a never-before-heard theory out of the blue like that strikes me as kind of strange.........)

Has anyone ever been able to find the location of Debbie's cabin?

Has anyone ever been able to find the location of Debbie's cabin?

https://twitter.com/ChiefWahoo2008/status/1188914499677544448

More importantly, this calls into question the other assertions made by Debbie's mother. With this one inaccurate statement, she establishes herself an unreliable narrator of the story. I believe that her grief and frustration led her to exaggerate some of the facts to her side of the story. I want to be clear. I'm not calling her a liar. I don't think she set out to intentionally mislead, and I'm very sorry that she lost her daughter. I'm also sorry that she encountered so much police negligence and incompetence. This was a tragic situation whether it was accidental or homicide.

(All of this is just my honest opinion only)

I just watched this segment for the first time in years. I really tried to pay attention. Everybody rubbed me the wrong way.

First, the cops. I think we can all agree and it has been stated by others several times here, that the cops really bungled the case. I do believe they lied about things to cover up their inept investigating.

Debbie's mom- Look, I have empathy for her pain. I also remember how it was in the 80s, even then if you had a mental illness you might as well be a serial killer. But having a mental illness is not a crime and neither is having romantic feelings for someone else. If Debbie was was being harassed at work by male volunteers/employees I don't know why she didn't bring it up to a supervisor. In the segment it shows that one of these men phoned her at home and harassed her; yet there is no indication that she filed a police report or requested an order of protection. If Debbie's mother had had her way, those men would have been beheaded even though there was no evidence tying them to Debbie's death. She seemed angry because the police did not continue to bother those men even though they had no legal grounds to do so. No evidence doesn't automatically mean no connection, but I wonder if Debbie's mother ever looked at anyone else as suspect or considered any other alternatives. The UM segment doesn't indicate she did.

Then there was the clothing Debbie was found in. The police said they had photographs of Debbie wearing the sneakers she was found in even though Debbie's mother said she didn't own them. Others here have already discussed sizing differences. It's not abnormal especially for women to buy men's shoes because they are more comfortable (my mother and I both do because we have wider feet).

The beer cans, they weren't a brand Debbie drank. Debbie didn't do this, Debbie didn't do that, Debbie wouldn't have done this and that, and on and on. My mother knows me better than anyone but does she know every single thing about me? No she does not. It just seems that Debbie's mother, God bless her, just couldn't accept that it might not have happened the way she specifically thought it did.

EDIT: I read back through the thread again and saw about semen on the body/her coworker and the woman he married, etc. Did anyone ever do a true crime podcast about Debbie? I have searched and haven't found one yet.

I could buy into the accidental drowning angle if her heavy-duty work uniform (that she had previously been seen in) was somewhere in her house, but it was never found. It was stated that her warmer weather uniform was on the floor with stockings. Perhaps she thought of wearing that outfit, then changed her mind because it was too cold.

I think somebody that she knew (maybe the couple from her work) came by and adducted her.

Just saw the UM Debbie Wolfe segment. Horrible. It's 100% obvious that this was a murder, not a suicide. This case has a lot of strange elements:

-DW's body being found in a burn barrel which later disappeared; it's very possible/probable this was the one the mother remembers seeing on DW's property (that they used for target shooting). Strange that the authorities said that there wasn't a burn barrel, when the initial searcher(s) were 100% she was in one (when she was first found in the water). Sounds like a classic case of incompetence/sloppiness, or possibly an intentional cover-up.

-Debbie being dressed in clothes that obviously weren't hers.

-Her house being a mess (including a nurse uniform on the floor in the kitchen) which apparently wasn't normal for her.

-Empty beer cans in the yard near the car, which weren't the brand that Debbie drank. Also, even if Debbie did drink them - why would she have kept them strewn all over the yard, if she had been as neat/meticulous as her family claimed?!

-The mysterious phone message from someone saying that they missed her at work, and that she had missed a lot of days (when her mother knew that wasn't true). They never said who this phone message was from, but it almost sounded like a concerned supervisor. However, it wasn't mentioned that the call was from someone legitimate. So, given that the call was treated with suspicion in the segment & the mother saying that Debbie rarely missed work, it sounds like the call was from someone either 'checking in' on Debbie, or possibly someone covering his tracks?!

It sounds like Debbie was single & lived alone (no room-mates were mentioned). And, she lived in an isolated cabin near a lake. So - unfortunately, whatever happened to her probably wasn't seen or heard by anyone - since it didn't seem that anyone lived nearby.

As far as who possibly committed the murder & the ransacking/trashing of the house, etc:

It's possible that either of the two suspects the family suspected (the two volunteers at the hospital who were bugging her for a date, but that she wasn't into) could have done this, but it also sounds like they were both cleared by the authorities.

Another possibility is that this was a completely random crime. I.e., I wonder if some psycho/junkie/criminal just wandered into the area & decided to kill her & trash the cabin, possibly looking for valuables?! Or, maybe someone she didn't know knew about the cabin & wanted to see if she had anything of value they could steal?! Given the isolation of the cabin, I don't see this even being that unlikely. The parents & LE didn't mention whether or not anything of value was missing from the cabin, but I doubt she had much of value there anyway.

Thinking about this case.

I looked up what the weather conditions were in old Fayette-Nam on December 26, 1985 (the day Debbie was last known to be alive). Relative to two days on either side of this date, that day was bitterly cold by southern standards, with a high of 29, a low of 10, and an average of 22 F. The average for December 1985 in that area was a little over 41 F. In fact, the reason Gordon Childress may have opted to dive the pond on New Year's Day 1986 was because it was unseasonably warm, with a high near 70 F. This probably wouldn't have greatly effected the water temperature ultimately, but it certainly would've seemed preferable.

I have become keenly aware of cold weather water temperatures since I participate in a lot of on-water activities. The water in Debbie's pond would have been very dangerous to plunge into. It is absolutely true sudden immersion in cold water can cause life-threatening cardiac dysrhythmias, even in otherwise healthy people:

https://www.experts.com/articles/immersion-into-cold-water-by-dr-alan-steinman

But how does one suddenly plunge into a pond without some kind of (huge) running start, or some overhanging structure from which to jump? According to the photo on Dr. Godwin's site, the water in the pond was low at the time of Debbie's death. Had she accidentally toppled into the water, as the police contended, it's unlikely a great deal of her body would've become immersed, let alone her ENTIRE body. Even if she had fallen along the edge of the water, she surely would've been found at that location. There's no current capable of dragging her. Childress found her in a further, deeper portion of the pond.

The sheriff's department contends there could have been ice covering the pond and Debbie ventured onto it, thinking it was safe to do so. It's North Carolina, in an area just a couple or three counties over from the coast. Ponds don't freeze to the bottom in nearly any part of the south, and southerners are generally quite aware of this. In addition, I doubt the nearly 30 year-old rural-dweller, Debbie, would've made such a miscalculation. She wasn't a child, nor someone incapable of reasonably calculating risk.

Not a particularly novel or brilliant analysis from me: I'm just amazed at how utterly off LE seems to be on this case. Given what we know, to me it's clearly a homicide.

Additionally, provided the uniform Debbie was wearing was disposed of by her killer for whatever reason, I have been wondering if the uniform found in Debbie's kitchen was something the perpetrator selected from her closet to put on her body but ultimately decided not to do so.

.If Debbie was was being harassed at work by male volunteers/employees I don't know why she didn't bring it up to a supervisor. In the segment it shows that one of these men phoned her at home and harassed her; yet there is no indication that she filed a police report or requested an order of protection

There are many reasons why someone might want to bring up harassment by a male volunteer/employer at work. Many work environments, particularly back in the '80s' when it was much more male-dominated, didn't take sexual harassment seriously and were inclined to dismiss it as just being harmless. Many women who came forward with harassment allegations had it used against them, either by being blamed as being the instigators of the situation or being dismissed as being unable to take the pressures of the job and therefore being unworthy of being taken seriously or considered for promotion. Many of the recent high-profile "me too" cases of late suggests that this type of mentality still goes on in the various industries of today, I can imagine how much worse it could have been back then. Even if her work environment hadn't had that type of mentality, she might have feared that it did and decided not to take the risk of reporting it to a supervisor

Or maybe she thought she could handle it on her own. Maybe she thought she it was relatively harmless. I've heard in the past that nurses quite often are the target of inappropriate behaviour toward them by patients, doctors and others, maybe she thought it was just more run of the mill behaviour of this particular type

With not filing a police report, maybe she thought that there was not enough justification to file one or maybe she was worried she wouldn't be believed or just dismissed. Don't forget this was still the '80s' in what was probably quite a conservative part of the country. Like many other industries, many in the police were not inclined to take this type of issue seriously (a problem that many women still encounter today) and -even if they did- there was often very little they could do about it (especially back then)

I watched this case for the first time today. Very tragic. I do think at the very least it warrants a proper re-investigation. The police spokesman being interviewed seemed to be a little too relaxed in his attitude toward the case for me to be comfortable with -it looks like they just settled into a fixed opinion that she must have committed suicide very early on (perhaps too early on for the good of solving this case) and refused to consider any possibility of evidence suggesting otherwise. The way he made it sound like they had to be dragged into interviewing the second suspect "at the request of the family" did not sit well with me

My only counterpoint to the idea that it was the 80s, maybe she couldn't report the harassment, etc. is that this wasn't a nurse being bothered by a supervisor or co-worker or patient. The men Jenny Edwards suspected were hospital volunteers, not even employees, and it was Debbie's responsibility as the coordinator to deal with these volunteers and report if there were problems. I would think it was part of her job to make sure they were doing their work appropriately.

Reinvestigate by all means, I believe definitely there is more to this story. Reinvestigate the volunteers who were giving her problems. But don't accuse someone based solely on their mental state. Jenny Edwards talked like she wanted to hunt the men down simply because they had mental issues. This stigma needs to end.

.

There are many reasons why someone might want to bring up harassment by a male volunteer/employer at work. Many work environments, particularly back in the '80s' when it was much more male-dominated, didn't take sexual harassment seriously and were inclined to dismiss it as just being harmless. Many women who came forward with harassment allegations had it used against them, either by being blamed as being the instigators of the situation or being dismissed as being unable to take the pressures of the job and therefore being unworthy of being taken seriously or considered for promotion. Many of the recent high-profile "me too" cases of late suggests that this type of mentality still goes on in the various industries of today, I can imagine how much worse it could have been back then. Even if her work environment hadn't had that type of mentality, she might have feared that it did and decided not to take the risk of reporting it to a supervisor

Or maybe she thought she could handle it on her own. Maybe she thought she it was relatively harmless. I've heard in the past that nurses quite often are the target of inappropriate behaviour toward them by patients, doctors and others, maybe she thought it was just more run of the mill behaviour of this particular type

With not filing a police report, maybe she thought that there was not enough justification to file one or maybe she was worried she wouldn't be believed or just dismissed. Don't forget this was still the '80s' in what was probably quite a conservative part of the country. Like many other industries, many in the police were not inclined to take this type of issue seriously (a problem that many women still encounter today) and -even if they did- there was often very little they could do about it (especially back then)

I watched this case for the first time today. Very tragic. I do think at the very least it warrants a proper re-investigation. The police spokesman being interviewed seemed to be a little too relaxed in his attitude toward the case for me to be comfortable with -it looks like they just settled into a fixed opinion that she must have committed suicide very early on (perhaps too early on for the good of solving this case) and refused to consider any possibility of evidence suggesting otherwise. The way he made it sound like they had to be dragged into interviewing the second suspect "at the request of the family" did not sit well with me

I believe I have finally found the location (https://www.google.com/maps/place/700+McArthur+Rd,+Fayetteville,+NC+28311/@35.1261481,-78.8895276,3a,75y,35.44h,84.51t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sy4OrNEh78reeas-LPtHosA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x89ab6c33d078f2fd:0x498e542a40cab18b!8m2!3d35.127095!4d-78.888653) of where Debbie's cabin was (not sure if it is still standing today). From my understanding, it was tucked back from the main road. If you use the google street view from 2007, you can see that there was a residence on the front of the property, and Debbie's cabin was further back. I don't see how someone would have been able to come back to the pond, undetected, scour the pound for the barrel, and then be able to actually remove the barrel from the pond. A 55 gallon barrel submerged in a pond? That would be damn near impossible to move.

I can do you one better than streetview, this is the area from a 1993 aerial. I'm assuming that the cabin is the structure tucked all the way at the back of the property.

I guess I had always assumed that this was a much more rural location and the pond wasn't on a main road. Could this have been a crime of opportunity? Not to disparage people who live in trailer parks, but there seem to be a number of trailer parks surrounding the property at the time.

Something to think about, someday that pond will be the focal point of some beautiful condo development. I'm surprised it already isn't.

Here is why I don't think it was accidental. It is between Christmas and New Year's in 1985. It is in North Carolina. Sure that isn't exactly the snowbelt of the east coast, but surely it is a cold time of year even there to be swimming in a pond, right? So I just can't see her accidentally falling in. Why be even close to the water at that point?

I feel this was a murder and the cops really dropped the ball here. And they fail to admit this as well. I think sometimes they tend to double down at these moments and never veer from their original assessment. But I think she was murdered for sure.

Here's an article (https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/2019/10/26/body-in-barrel-questions-linger-in-1985-fayetteville-drowning/2439020007/) written back in 2019 and the author was able to get in touch with Jack Watts, the investigator interviewed on the segment. The article mostly rehashed everything that was known about the case, but does have some new details.

"Nobody's ever 100 percent certain," said Watts, who was one of the lead investigators on the case. The former captain is now 76, retired and living in Fayetteville.

"Evidence showed, and from the information we had, I feel like it was a drowning," he said Wednesday. "I think we were pretty adamant about what we believed. We investigated everybody. We done a pretty good investigation. We couldn't find any marks on the body. It would have been there if there had been foul play. That was consistent with what the medical examiner found."

Watts said evidence seemed to indicate that Wolfe was playing outside and accidentally fell into the pond. "It was wintertime, and there was a little ice around the edge of the pond," he said. "That's the reason she had the big jacket on."

Watts said there was evidence she had back problems, which may have made it difficult for her to emerge from the cold water.

County detectives offered the theory that Wolfe became frightened and disoriented in the water, Reese said, moving toward the deeper water where she became a victim of immersion syndrome.

"The autopsy found only about a half-teaspoon of water in Wolfe's upper bronchial area," according to Reese, who attributed the autopsy report.

The bolded, IMO, is much more believable than someone killing her and dumping her body in a 55 gallon drum barrel, and then coming back after the police had already discovered her body and removed the same barrel without detection.

To give you an idea of how shallow that pond is around the edge: Debbie could walk a full 6 feet into the pond and the water would only be up to just below her knees. I think it’s asking a lot for me to believe that she accidentally drowned.

Also, a look at historical weather online for Fayetteville, NC circa 1985. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were warmer days. But December 26th (where Debbie completed her shift and went home which was the last sighting of her) it was dramatically colder. During the day it was a high of 43 degrees but got down to 14 degrees that evening. It’s too cold to be playing with your dogs outside. Yes, she could have gone out to retrieve her dogs to call them in, but that wouldn’t have required getting extremely close to the pond.

To give you an idea of how shallow that pond is around the edge: Debbie could walk a full 6 feet into the pond and the water would only be up to just below her knees. I think it’s asking a lot for me to believe that she accidentally drowned.

Also, a look at historical weather online for Fayetteville, NC circa 1985. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were warmer days. But December 26th (where Debbie completed her shift and went home which was the last sighting of her) it was dramatically colder. During the day it was a high of 43 degrees but got down to 14 degrees that evening. It’s too cold to be playing with your dogs outside. Yes, she could have gone out to retrieve her dogs to call them in, but that wouldn’t have required getting extremely close to the pond.

In that weather, and with that sort of cold water, you would cringe the second your foot hit the water and got soaked. You would likely recoil and not keep walking into the water. I never understood this drowning theory. She wouldn't keep walking into the water.

In that weather, and with that sort of cold water, you would cringe the second your foot hit the water and got soaked. You would likely recoil and not keep walking into the water. I never understood this drowning theory. She wouldn't keep walking into the water.

She wouldn’t have bothered going near the water when the temperature is that cold, much less want to be outside at all. I just don’t understand why people keep thinking she was playing with her dogs and somehow accidentally drowned along the extremely shallow edges of that pond. How? I cannot suspend reality to the degree that would ever make this believable.

She wouldn’t have bothered going near the water when the temperature is that cold, much less want to be outside at all. I just don’t understand why people keep thinking she was playing with her dogs and somehow accidentally drowned along the extremely shallow edges of that pond. How? I cannot suspend reality to the degree that would ever make this believable.

You are underestimating how quickly cold water shock could affect some people. It could have happened in seconds. Hyperventilating is the most common reaction. Which would cause her to potentially breathe in water in such a small amount (teaspoon IIRC) being found and the medical examiner still ruling drowning as the cause of death. Unless of course someone, motive unknown, decided to kill her in such a way that no discernable trauma was found, who also decided to undress her and redress her in clothes that weren't hers, put her body in a barrel, put it into the pond, then get lucky enough for the cops to miss the barrel when they discover her body, who then goes back and retrieves the barrel from said pond in an effort to conceal that a barrel was used. This person was also clever enough to make sure that when they put Debbie's body into the water that she was alive just enough to breathe in a teaspoon of water which caused her to drown. The murder theory is completely illogical. Dying from cold water shock, while rare, makes more sense of the two theories with what is known.

I found two sets of weather data for December 26, 1985. Data is Fahrenheit. Pope-Fayetteville high 31 low 17. Fayetteville Area high 43 low 14. Meg the Egg reported high 29 low 10. While she did not state her source it sounds correct for Simmons Army Airfield which is much closer to Debbie's cabin than Pope AFB which is adjacent to Spring Lake or the Fayetteville airport which is further southwest on US 401 south. There are weather collecting points on small civilian airstrips used by private pilots and skydivers. The Forest service has some in the area also. But I don't know how to access them.

US 401 runs through Fayetteville north to Wise NC where it joins US 1. It is 401N (North) where it it intersects McArthur rd. 401 North/Ramsey is a description not an address. Ramsey street is the road name in the Fayetteville area. Debbie's actual address has been correctly reported on this thread as 700 McArthur rd. Her pond was originally a retention pond to collect run off and alleviate the collapse of the road bank onto McArthur. Even after it was paved it looked like a dirt road because of the clay and sand washing onto the surface. It was also to prevent the silting up of Crystal lake.

Cars 1986 provided a working link to the street view of the pond and the driveway entrance. This view is from a camera 7+ feet above ground level on a van. The view from a passenger car was obstructed by tall weedy grasses between the edge of the road and the 3 rail fence. It was possible to drive by and not even notice the pond. The driveway entrance was easily missed. Debbie's cabin was not visible from McArthur rd. The new Lincoln Log style cabin made of round bright tan logs was visible from the road. It was between Debbie's drive and a sunken road sand firebreak. This firebreak is still visible on google satellite view it is parallel to her drive and to the west. Caskey Rd was a dirt or gravel private road that led to a side road with a few mobile homes.

The black and white photo map provided by Eighth Street clearly shows the cabin in relation to its surroundings. The large trailer parks weren't there in 1985. There was much more tall pine forest. Her cabin was not visible from Caskey or the firebreak. It was only visible at a distance from the pines on the north side of clearing/meadow. Unless you stumbled upon it as I did in the 1970s you had to know where it was to find it. It was a safe peaceful location slightly more than a mile from the intersection of Ramsey and McArthur where a small shopping center was located and dense housing began.

Debbie's cabin was sturdy. It was built from from squared logs with dovetail joints. The cinderblock addition and the enlarged screened porch were well constructed. I don't know what the inside looked like. It did have some metal like rebar protruding from the foundation or near it in the late 1990s. These may have been to chain her dogs I don't know when the cabin built or who owned it. That information is available in the county plat books. I don't know if its accessible online.

The pond had a shallow gradient. The banks and mud around the pond would have been too stiff from cold to leave tracks. As cold as it was ice would have formed around the edges or refrozen leaving almost no sign of entry into the water. The softer unfrozen surface underwater would have been disturbed. As a minimum the green moss would have been darker from the muck below seeping into footprints and drag marks. I never saw signs of any life in the pond. It may have been too shallow to hold oxygen, had a severe PH imbalance or been toxic from pine straw and scrub oakleaf runoff. The cold would have settled all of the silt and particulate matter. Temperature layers would limit visibility and give the illusion you could see the bottom.

Whoever panicked and dumped her got lucky. The sad thing is if drowning was the cause of death they murdered Debbie because she was unconscious not dead.

The reference to Wooded Lake was removed. Wooded Lake is a separate body of water to the northeast of Crystal Lake and Debbies pond.

I started researching the events surrounding Debbie Wolfes death Autumn 2023. All of the contemporary(1986) news articles agree That December 26, 1985 was the last day Debbie worked and was seen alive. Kmaynard who started this thread states her last day was December 25, 1985. This error in the timeline has been caused by reliance on internet articles that are wrong due to typing errors or other reasons. This along with other reasons has caused a distortion of the day count regarding subsequent events, to include police response and fueled some conspiracy theories. I incorporated information I recently found in a 1988 article by Pat Reese and adjusted this timeline. It is now available on Debbie Wolfe articles thread by justin5256.

This is the best Timeline I could cobble together. It starts Christmas Eve 1984 a full year before Debbie's disappearance and death. This was Debbies first holiday season since moving back to Fayetteville, North Carolina from Bentonville, Arkansas.


December 24, 1984: The Pub in Eutaw Village, Fayetteville, NC was the family business. All were welcome but it was primarily a Green Beret hangout. The Family, John Edwards (Sarge), Virginia Edwards (Jenny), and her children from her first marriage had the traditional get together and wished their friends and customers a happy holiday season. Sarge had a heart attack a few months before so it was brief and held early. The family left, prepared for and attended Midnight mass.

December 24, 1985 Tuesday Christmas Eve: No information available.
Questions: Who was in town that holiday season? John whose field jacket became notorious? Joseph a Navy career man? Wives, girlfriends, exes, widows?

December 25, 1985 Wednesday Christmas Day: according to most accounts Debbie worked a full shift. She celebrated Christmas with her family. There are photos of Debbie with her mother Jenny and stepfather Sarge. There is one with her niece Michelle and an adolescent girl. This was the last time her family saw her.
Questions: Who else was at the celebration? What shift did she work. When did she leave her parents home?

December 26, 1985 Thursday: Debbie worked the 8AM-4PM shift. She was seen toting around a stuffed unicorn, a gift from her mother. She had lunch with Roger Rushing respiratory therapist. He spilled coffee on her sleeve, she spilled peas on her uniform. She called her mother at 3:30 PM and asked for advice buying a birthday gift for her sister-in-law. This was the last time they spoke. She was seen leaving the hospital at 4PM by a female from volunteer services. There were unconfirmed sightings of her in Fayetteville as late as 6:30 PM.
Comment: Debbie probably hand washed and dried her top in the ladies room prior to returning from lunch.

December 27, 1985 Friday: Debbie didn't report for her 8AM shift. Calls were made to Debbie and then her parents. According to the Fayetteville Observer Jenny called the hospital between noon and 1 PM and found out Debbie had not reported for work. Sarge and Kevin Gorton a family friend loaded his car with firewood and kindling and drove to her cabin. Her kitchen door was unlocked and the living room door was locked. A nurses uniform and shoes were found on the kitchen floor. The electric heater was turned up. The 1975 Pontiac that had been loaned to Wolfe by her mother was parked in the yard with the doors locked. Christmas presents could be seen on the seats. The dogs dishes were nearly empty and hadn't been fed since the previous day. The men put food in the dog's dishes. They remember seeing a stack of firewood by the fireplace. Thinking Debbie had left with someone they left.
From other sources a different version emerges: Jenny, Sarge and Kevin all went to or went back to the cabin. The car was parked unusually and the driver's seat was all the way back. Beer cans of a brand Debbie didn't drink littered the yard. Accounts conflict whether whether her German Shepherds were chained up.The mystery message was found on the answering machine. The UM episode has Kevin finding her purse under a cherry 4 post bed. Debbie had a waterbed. Jenny called Law enforcement. Accounts of response conflict. Some say Jenny couldn't report her missing for 72 hours. Some say a deputy couldn't find the place. Some say Captain Watts did respond late in the afternoon and conducted a cursory search with a bloodhound. The Pub remained closed due to family emergency that day.
Questions: Was there actually a 72 hour wait or was the family advised late Friday to call back if Debbie wasn't back by Monday? Did Debbie's boyfriend become involved that day? He was said to be military police CID.

December 28, 1985 Saturday: According to the Fayetteville Observer Sarge and Dave Thomassen checked the cabin and fed her dogs. Nothing changed from the previous day. They searched the woods and walked around the pond found nothing and left.
According to other sources: Jenny and Debbie's boyfriend organized a search of the property by friends, family and military late morning or early afternoon until dark about 5:30 PM. 50 or more participated.
Questions: Who was involved? When specifically? What was done specifically?

December 29, 1985 Sunday 11:00 AM: The dogs were fed by Sarge, Thomassen and Kevin. Edwards(Sarge) stated he (Sarge or Kevin?)got on his knees and saw Debbie's purse under her bed.They didn't notice anything suspicious and left. That's according the Fayetteville Observer January 1,1988.
Questions: What else took place that Sunday? Who was involved?

December 30, 1985 Monday: according to the Fayetteville Observer Jenny called the VA Hospital at 8:30 AM and learned Debbie hadn't reported for work. She contacted Law enforcement and a deputy arrived to fill out a missing persons report and get a photo of Debbie. Friends and family searched the woods and walked arond the pond. Lt William Nichols of the Cumberland County Sheriffs Department arrived at the Edwards trailer park at 4:30 PM. He got lost looking for the cabin. He promised searchers would be there in the morning.


December 31, 1985 Tuesday New Years Eve: according to the Fayetteville Observer Edwards and Thomassen drove to the cabin and saw Law enforcement conducts a search of the property with the assistance of a bloodhound. They said they could see the bottom of the pond, there was no indication there was a body in there. They searched the cabin and gave Edwards permission clean it up.
Accordng to other sources the search concluded at dusk. That is when Jenny asked if they were going to check the pond with a boat. She got permission to use her own search team.
Questions: were photos taken taken that day? Was any evidence collected?
Comments: Marking the driveway entrance would have saved a lot of time. Better communication and cooperation would have resulted in a timely and proper search of the pond. In addition to the 229,000 residents of Cumberland County including college students there were at least 10,000 young paratroopers from Ft Bragg(Liberty) who were going to celebrate New Years Eve that night. Local law enforcement had their hands full.

January 1, 1986 Wednesday New Years Day: according to the Fayetteville Observer Edwards, Thomassen and Gorton returned to the cabin at 9:30 AM and continued their search, at 12:30 PM Sgt Gordy Childress, an Army trooper who is a scuba diver volunteered to search the bottom of the pond. He entered the water about 3PM. He surfaced at 3:20 and called out that he discovered a body face down in an oil drum with the feet sticking out. They went to the cabin and reported the discovery to Mrs Edwards who called the Sheriff's department.
According to their statements the first deputies didn't arrive until 40-45 minutes after the call. Childress pointed to the area about 30-35 feet from the bank where he found the body. Deputies delayed entering the water because they had to wait for an air gauge. Gorton drove to his house to get a gauge that he loaned to the deputy. Deputy Don Smith, a member of the Sheriff's department E-platoon, entered the water with Childress and surfaced minutes later. Smith, Childress and other officers recovered the body and brought it to the bank. Smith told reporters he had also seen the barrel
According to other sources Jenny saw the body and ran to the cabin sobbing. Kevin Gorton identified the body as Debbie Wolfe. He described her as appearing asleep. The same description was given by others who saw her or have seen photos of the recovery. Photos were taken, evidence was collected, and there may have been film or video documentation of the recovery. There were onlookers present and possibly press. Reliable sources indicated Debbie was fully clothed for the cold. Much of the clothing and the manner she was dressed were not normal for her and are suspicious. There was discussion about marking the barrel for recovery the following day. It was a long, hard, and sad day for everyone. No one was left to secure the scene.
Questions: Does any of the film or video still exist? Does any of the evidence collected still exist?

January 2, 1986 Thursday: The state autopsy was performed. The pond is drained no barrel, no discernable tracks or dragmarks found. Two theories are presented in the UM episode Captain Watts: No barrel existed.
Jenny Edwards: The killer(s) came back and took it.
According to the Fayetteville Observer: Smith (Don) was filmed by a news cameraman as saying to Major Smith (Chief of detectives), "That sucker was right out there." Pointing to the area where the body was found. Investigators drained most of the pond and reported there was no barrel a week later. This is a confusing statement. I believe it is out of context due to editing. In my opinion it means that on Jan 2 a week after Debbie was last seen that the announcement was made no barrel found. It could mean that the official report that no barrel was found was made a week later Jan 9, 1986. They insisted the jacket Wolfe was wearing may have ballooned over her head and appeared to have been a barrel.
Comment: Local rumor was that well intentioned friends retrieved the barrel for Jenny without her knowledge and lost it during transport.

January 3, 1986 Friday: Cumberland County detectives announce death was by drowning. The late Sheriff Ottis Jones requests North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation review his departments handling of the case.

January 1986: Debbie's Nursing school graduation photo is made into a poster and displayed at the Pub. Her private memorial is held one evening.(Saturday Jan 4, 1986?).

Tuesday January 7, 1986: Debbie is buried in Arcadia, Louisiana.

February 4, 1986 the death certificate is filed. Cause of death "pending " determination of death as murder, suicide, undetermined or natural causes "pending". A supplement foled the same day lists cause of death as "drowning". Accident, suicide or homicide "undetermined".

After a lengthy delay Dr William Oliver announces the autopsy results. Cold water drowning or "immersion syndrome". This is where cold water shock causes cardiac arrest.
Jenny has Debbie exhumed and a second autopsy is performed by Forensics Pathologists of Bossier City Louisiana. (Exact date unknown) Neither autopsy showed the presence of drugs or alchohol.

March(?) 1986: The clothing Debbie was found in is given to Jenny. She keeps them in a cardboard box at the Pub where she shows them to various people.

The Edwards hire a private detective. Questions: When exactly? Who was he? What did he find? Where are the reports/results?

August 1990: Unsolved Mysteries starts filming Debbie's case according the Fayetteville Observer in articles by Larry Cheek.

December 1990: Her case airs on national and international television.

1991: TV Guide and Robert Frasco get involved. He blames the mystery caller.

1994(?) The Edwards sell the Pub and other properties in North Carolina in order to relocate to Lousiana.

October 30, 1999: John Britton Edwards 'Sarge' (Debbie's stepfather) passed away at 69.

March 11, 2002: Jerry Ferrell Wolfe Sr. (Debbie's father) Passed away at 69.

August 22, 2002: Virginia Ruth Vernon Wolfe Edwards (Debbie's mother Jenny) passed away at 67.

2010: Dr. Maurice Godwin begins to investigate.

June 8, 2011: John Anthony Wolfe (Debbie's older brother) passed away at 55.

2012: Dr. Godwin announces biological evidence in the case remains untested.

2014: Dr. Godwin announces the case file is missing.

February 13, 2015: Joseph Vernon Wolfe (Debbie's younger brother) passes away at 55.

October 26, 2019: The Body in the Barrel article by Micheal Futch reveals the case file was purged.

If anyone has information to add to this timeline please comment on this thread and/or pm.
This is longer than planned. I welcome any corrections, additions and suggestions. That includes grammar and spelling. This December 26 marks 39 years since Debbie was taken from us.

1) Debbie was described as wearing longsleeve winter top and pants on the last day she was seen. Her coworker Roger Rushing described spilling coffee on her sleeve and watching her spill peas on the front during lunch. Was it in fact a winter uniform? It was common practice to wear the summer short sleeved whites with a long sleeve top underneath in a layered look. A full length bottom would be worn underneath the full length light weight summer bottoms. Usually pantyhose or long underwear. In either case I think Debbie handwashed the coffee stain and peas out in the ladies room and used the hand airdryers before returning from lunch.
There have been comments on how suspicious or sinister the coffee stained uniform was never found. It may have been in her hamper minus stains. She may have washed it and dried it at home. Or in a laundromat on the way home.

2) Debbie was last seen in ladies jeans or slacks, a dark or black t-shirt and a light jacket or winter shirt. I don't know what her foot wear was or if she was wearing her Panama hat.

3) The light weight summer uniform discovered in the kitchen. Was it something she hand washed and hung out to dry? Or took out of a dryer damp and hung out to finish drying wrinkle free? Was it an article of clothing taken out for the bloodhound and not put back up?

4) Debbie was recovered in an olive field jacket with olive liner. It was described as a mens small. The one shown on the episode looked brand new and didn't look as if anything had ever been sewn on it. It was not her brother's faded Vietnam era jacket. A handmade necklace with a beaded pouch was in the pocket. The pants she was found in were described as men's brown corduroys that were too large, too long and unzipped. According to the 1988 article by Pat Reese they were 30x30 while Debbie wore 28x28 ladies slacks. She had on a dark (black and green) Pittsburg Steelers crewneck longsleeve sweatshirt. This was layered like a preppy sweater over a brown with white plaid "flannel shirt" with red and green lines. The shirt appeared to be new cotton flannel and buttoned up completely including the collar and cuffs. She was described as wearing a pair of men's cotton knee socks with red stripes, men's cotton ankle socks and men's size 6 Nikes. She was said to be wearing gloves.

5) The mysterious necklace: Findagrave.com has a memorial site for Debbie. There is a photo of her in bib overall and black baseball cap. Centered on the bib is the beaded deerskin pouch. It has a red dot center on a white
background surrounded by a turquoise outer ring forming a "Bull'seye". The necklace is formed with large dark beads. Based on Jenny's description it must have been turned inside out to dry and returned to her that way. The round beaded pattern is a rosette. It was made as a learning project by a young Special Forces soldier working as a volunteer on a medical OJT. Debbie saw him work on it during breaks. She complimented his work so he gave it to her when he was done. Just a gift made from material bought at the Tandy shop.. Nothing supernatural or sinister.

Jenny Debbies mother claimed none of the clothes were Debbies. Debbie was very practical about clothing. She always seemed to have a mens shirt or light jacket which she wore unbuttoned and as the outer layer. Sometimes the sleeves were cuffed up. I don't remember ever seeing her wear a liner with a field jacket. Photos of her wearing the Nikes were found. They were only a half size big at most. I did find the 2 pair of mens white cotton socks disturbing. Even in winter Debbie wore colored feminine socks. The men's corduroys were a red flag. Couldn't be zipped and long enough to be a trip hazard. The layering of the flannel shirt under the sweatshirt is all wrong.
I believe Debbie was unconscious or dead when she was redressed in a combination of her clothes and whatever mens clothes were available. I think whoever dumped her was going to either put her in her own bed or stage an accident inside but the dogs were chained by the doors and wouldn't let them in. So plan B accidental drowning.

I am basing my opinion on photos of the recovery and the UM scene with Jenny and the box of clothes. There are some photos at findagrave that show how she normally dressed. Those photos also show her significant weight gain and loss. My estimate is Debbie's weight spring 1981- December 1985 ranged from 100 pounds to 160+ in the Nurse photo, back down to about 130 in the Christmas photos wearing the argyle blouse.

Debbie was fully clothed despite what some recent posts and podcasts claim. There were no special blue coveralls from Cape Fear Hospital as a work of Fiction recently claimed. I added 5 and the paragraph above. If anyone has more info or photos please comment. The info I cobbled together and my opinions are just a start not an end all.

(All of this is just my honest opinion only)

I just watched this segment for the first time in years. I really tried to pay attention. Everybody rubbed me the wrong way.

First, the cops. I think we can all agree and it has been stated by others several times here, that the cops really bungled the case. I do believe they lied about things to cover up their inept investigating.

Debbie's mom- Look, I have empathy for her pain. I also remember how it was in the 80s, even then if you had a mental illness you might as well be a serial killer. But having a mental illness is not a crime and neither is having romantic feelings for someone else. If Debbie was was being harassed at work by male volunteers/employees I don't know why she didn't bring it up to a supervisor. In the segment it shows that one of these men phoned her at home and harassed her; yet there is no indication that she filed a police report or requested an order of protection. If Debbie's mother had had her way, those men would have been beheaded even though there was no evidence tying them to Debbie's death. She seemed angry because the police did not continue to bother those men even though they had no legal grounds to do so. No evidence doesn't automatically mean no connection, but I wonder if Debbie's mother ever looked at anyone else as suspect or considered any other alternatives. The UM segment doesn't indicate she did.

Then there was the clothing Debbie was found in. The police said they had photographs of Debbie wearing the sneakers she was found in even though Debbie's mother said she didn't own them. Others here have already discussed sizing differences. It's not abnormal especially for women to buy men's shoes because they are more comfortable (my mother and I both do because we have wider feet).

The beer cans, they weren't a brand Debbie drank. Debbie didn't do this, Debbie didn't do that, Debbie wouldn't have done this and that, and on and on. My mother knows me better than anyone but does she know every single thing about me? No she does not. It just seems that Debbie's mother, God bless her, just couldn't accept that it might not have happened the way she specifically thought it did.

EDIT: I read back through the thread again and saw about semen on the body/her coworker and the woman he married, etc. Did anyone ever do a true crime podcast about Debbie? I have searched and haven't found one yet.

This is my opinion only
UM did their segment based primarily on information provided by Jenny Edwards, Debbie's mother. When I watched it I was struck how carefully everyone spoke. Jenny was filmed without her glasses. Normally she looked like Estelle Getty. She had a very strong personality. She was also used to getting her way. When she didn't she could be abrasive. She was self absorbed and opinionated. She didn't let facts get in the way of her opinions. Everyone who had a lot to say seemed like they were tranquilized and reading off of cue cards. Jenny dominated the segment. I didn't like Captain Watts attitude. Kevin Gorton wasn't allowed to say much and he had that "deer caught in the headlights" look. John Edwards a retired Special Forces medic was the only one acting naturally and he said very little.
Since this comment was posted at least 30 podcasts have been on this case. Some are very informative. Most parrot one another making the same mistakes in timeline and confusing sudden immersion (cold water shock) with immersion foot (dishpan hands). A couple criticize John Edwards perfomance and wish a better actor had been used. I found the ones by Cayleigh Elise, Alyssa Nicole, Ninna Instead and the guys at True Crime Garage the most informative.
Unfortunately Jenny put out so much misinformation that it has called into doubt statements which are probably true. She refused to accept she could be wrong about the 2 volunteers. She is the sole source that anyone had mental problems or that a stalker existed. I think she also refused to accept her daughter had grown up and surpassed her. I feel Jenny's actions backfired and ended the ongoing investigation.

Sheriff Ottis Jones was put on the defensive and asked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to review his department's procedures. This derailed the investigation into Debbie's death. Why did he take such drastic measures? A lawsuit against Fayetteville PD for improper procedure was in the headlines at the time. I am sure he wanted to avoid one. Debbie was lost in all of the squabbling.
Added:
I finally found Robin's podcast The Trail Went Cold. I recommend it!
Added: Crimelines podcast by Charlie Worroll. Well researched well presented

All of these podcasts have a different focus, all are done very well and have great information. Great to stimulate thought!

Here's an article (https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/2019/10/26/body-in-barrel-questions-linger-in-1985-fayetteville-drowning/2439020007/) written back in 2019 and the author was able to get in touch with Jack Watts, the investigator interviewed on the segment. The article mostly rehashed everything that was known about the case, but does have some new details.



The bolded, IMO, is much more believable than someone killing her and dumping her body in a 55 gallon drum barrel, and then coming back after the police had already discovered her body and removed the same barrel without detection.

In my opinion the 2019 Body in the Barrel article has a lot of flaws. What it has right is an email from Lt Sean Swain stating it was deemed a solved case and the case file was purged. You are right there is a solid interview with the late Marvel Rush and an informative interview with retired Captain Watts. The rest is a badly edited compilation of previous articles by the late Larry Cheek and the late Pat Reese. I recommend printing out the articles available on the thread started by justin5256 and comparing them to the 2019 article as you go. Up to 1988 Major Smith chief of detectives is mentioned. A Major Nichols is also mentioned.

Captain Watts was Chief of Detectives when Unsolved Mysteries was filming. He appeared unprepared and indifferent during his interview. However his answers were respectful and he acknowleged that the family would know more about Debbies clothing and dressing habits than the Sheriff's dept. Perhaps if he had been better prepared, had shown the photos of Debbie wearing the men's Nikes and the Indian necklace, he would have appeared knowledgable and caring. He was commenting on decisions and press releases made by his predecessors. Whether he agreed wholly or in part he was left holding the bag and backing the established party line. I believe him when he says he didn't see the barrel. Only the divers Childress and Deputy Don Smith are on record seeing the barrel. When Debbie was recovered it was well past 4 PM and the water had been stirred up by Childress dragging the pond. The divers who recovered Debbie under conditions of extremely poor visibility in fading light must be taken at their individual word on this matter. Are any still alive? Did their reports survive in a desk or attic? The only mention I have found of Captain Jack Watts working the case involves him responding late afternoon Friday December 27, 1985 with a bloodhound and performing a search around the cabin. I have not been able to confirm that. There is nothing to suggest he did not do less than his due diligence. It seems he and his partner were just another set of detectives doing whatever their assigned tasks daily tasks were during the investigation. Correction to the last statement Watts was a lead detective on the case. Basically the Sheriffs dept went full court press on the investigation.

What happened to the barrel? I believe in the confusion, sadness and fading light someone on site "took the initiative" to recover the barrel and lost it in transport. It was probably done in plain sight of everyone. They may not have known of the decision to leave it in place as the focal point for the next days investigation.

I do not believe a ninja criminal mastermind came back on the property and stole the barrel.

After the barrel went missing the late Sheriff Ottis Jones requested the NC SBI investigate his departments handling of the case. Some actions of the family had already interfered with the case, the accidental drowning theory was announced along with the ballooning jacket. Between unfavorable press and the rumor mill it is believed these actions were to forestall a civil law suit. The inability of the Sheriffs department and the family to work together effectively ended the death investigation.

I don't believe Debbie drowned playing with her dogs. My experience with German Shepherds and mixes indicates her dogs would have tried to get her out of harms way and dragged her out of the water. As a minimum they would have led someone to the pond.
I think she died someplace else probably by accident. What is disturbing is this person or persons knew enough about her to stage a drowning and chose to do so rather than take her to a hospital.

Regarding Debbie Wolfe:

Paper: Fayetteville Observer NC
Title: After Two Years, Drowning is still shrouded in Mystery
Author: By Pat Reese staff writer January 1, 1988

It's been two years since the body of a Cumberland County woman was recovered from a small pond on the Brock Farm near Ft Bragg, and investigators may never be able to prove if her death was accident, suicide or murder. The victim Deborah Ann Wolfe a 28-year-old nurse at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, lived alone in the cabin by the shallow pond, not far from Johnson Farm Road in northeastern Cumberland County.

Investigators haven't been able to find anyone who saw Wolfe after she left the hospital at 4 p.m. Dec. 26.

Unanswered questions, contradictions, and the victim's mother's adamant refusal to accept theories voiced by law enforcement authorities, have shrouded the death in mystery.

The death certificate filed February 4, 1986, lists the cause of death as "pending" and the determination of death as murder, suicide, undetermined or natural causes also "pending".

A supplemental report filed the same date lists the cause of death as "drowning". Undetermined is typed in the blank where the medical examiner is required to state whether the death is due to accident, suicide or homicide.

Detectives with the Cumberland County homicide squad, assisted in their investigation by the Bureau of identification, on January 3 announced that death was by "drowning".

Maj. Charles Smith, then chief of detectives advanced the theory that Wolfe was walking her dogs in the woods or searching for firewood and fell into the water.

The body was found 30 feet from shore, and Smith said at the time Wolfe must have lost her sense of direction in the water and moved away from the bank.

(snip)

Dr. William Oliver, a pathologist at N.C. Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill, conducted an autopsy and after a lengthy delay, reported the body had undergone changes characteristic of "cold weather drowning" or "immersion syndrome", in which death is believed to occur from cardiac arrest. He said he found no evidence of beating, stabbing, shooting or strangulation.

Also, regarding the 'mysterious' barrel:

Investigators drained most of the pond and reported there was no barrel a week later. It was later reported that they drained the pond to a level of 2 to 3 feet. No barrel was found.

My theory is that one (or both) of her dogs went into the water, and she was either concerned (or annoyed) – as a dog owner myself, sometimes the two are synonymous – she went in to get them and lead them out and went into shock because the water was so cold. She had a heart attack and drowned.

I believe this narrative matches the evidence.

First I would point out you completely left out the part of the article where 2 divers said they saw the barrel. It is on my timeline above paragraphs Jan 1 and Jan 2. For clarification the article seems to be primarily from Mr John Britton Edwards recollections. He was Debbie Wolfe's stepfather. When Edwards is quoted or refered to it is John also known as "Sarge". When Mrs. Edwards is referred to, they are speaking about Jenny, Debbies mother. Pat Reese and John Edwards were both honest, calm, tough men who lived full lives. Even so I read carefully and found a "typo" that persists to this day.

The police theory that Debbie was playing with her dogs and accidently drowned has always been plausible. I will add if the barrel had been found and retained that it is possible she could have been trapped long enough to drown in this scenario. In my opinion the police theory is possible but not probable when you consider the other "evidence".

She wouldn’t have bothered going near the water when the temperature is that cold, much less want to be outside at all. I just don’t understand why people keep thinking she was playing with her dogs and somehow accidentally drowned along the extremely shallow edges of that pond. How? I cannot suspend reality to the degree that would ever make this believable.

I agree with these opinions that Debbie wouldn't have gone into the pond or been around it. I do believe if one of her dogs was in trouble she would attempt to rescue them. I don't buy into that because she had on the field jacket with liner. I think she would have left it and the gloves on the bank. There are no reports of her dogs displaying unusual behavior like completely going off of their feed, circling or hanging out by the pond, the 4 day howl. Behavior that would indicate they knew her location or what happened to her.

I believe that cardiac arrest ended Debbie's life. Whether it occurred in the pond because she was only unconcious when she was placed there or from a prior incident that night. Basically it is a heart attack coupled with the natural protective closure of the airway. It can happen simultaneously or in any sequence. This is also the same thing that happens when you swallow water down the wrong pipe or choke on a piece of ice. She could have drowned in somebodys hot tub or died of positional asphyxia. The signs and symptoms are very similar. She had a lot of stress that year to include major weight loss. She may have had unrevealed or undiagnosed medical conditions.

When Debbie was recovered her clothing was too clean to have foundered in the pond. No mud on the soles or sides of her shoes. No dirt or mud on her pants and field jacket. The only thing I saw in one photo was a light green film from a thin water slime or moss. Nothing muddy.
Debbie wore 28x28 ladies slacks according to the article. Thats seems accurate based on photos. She was found in 30x30 mens brown corduroys that were unzipped. This seems accurate but all of the internet descriptions and the one by Larry Cheek gave the impression the pants were much larger. Corduroys run large compared to Levi's and Wranglers. A man wearing 501s could comfortably pull a pair of corduroys over them. On the other hand womens 28x28 slacks varied more than mens's pants. In the Christmas 1985 photos where Debbie is wearing the argyle top her slacks are form fitting and she presents a good figure. But if you compare to early 1980 photos before weight gain you can see the thicker overall figure and secretary spread in the 1985 photos.
In my opinion the two big red flags that Debbie was redressed by a man are the Pittsburgh Steelers sweatshirt and the corduroy pants followed by the combination of socks. Debbie always wore her shirts or light jackets over everything else. The sweat shirt was layered over the flannel shirt like a preppie sweater. Wrong sequence. I believe who ever redressed her simply couldn't get her snug slacks back on. The corduroys were pulled on and buttoned at the waist. Her womens hips and bottom were too big for men's cut pants and they couldn't be zipped. Couldn't be zipped and long enough to be a trip hazard! Debbie would never have worn them. Everything points to a body dump!

LE was not able to find anyone who saw her after she walked out of the Hospital after 4PM.
This is my opinion of what probably happened.
1) Debbie was well liked and respected. Anyone contacted by police probably played dumb and was going to let Debbie know the next time they saw her the cops were asking about her.
2) Jenny gave them a photo. Was it the nurse photo she gave the press? Debbie had lost a lot of weight. She didn't look like the photo! Who would equate their regular customer Deb at the gas station with a heavyset nurse Deborah Wolfe?

Personally I don't believe Debbie drowned playing with her dogs.
I don't believe she was targeted, kidnapped and killed.
At the time it seemed common knowledge she died at or after a party. This doesn't seem to have been investigated. Or it was done superficially because of her mothers insistance that the murderers were in the VA system.
I think the party angle needs to be investigated it may hold some answers.

From what I learned in the segment, Debbie was being hit on by someone that worked at the hospital, but she told him that she was already involved with someone else and this person was not involved with the hospital. It was suspected that this person from the hospital had murdered Debbie after she had rejected him.

Jenny Edwards, Debbies mother, was fixated on 2 volunteers as her kidnapers or killers.
First of all what I have found all of the volunteers were Debbies responsibility. She was their superior, supervisor etc. It was her responsibilty to insure they were trained and performed properly, as scheduled in order to provide the best patient care possible. This was in addition to her normal duties on the floor.

Debbie had experience with unwanted suitors from when she ran the family bar. Many of her loyal customers and male friends were guys she had turned down.

In my opinion LE handled the situation with these 2 "suspects properly.
1) They were interviewed by Detectives.
2) They got legal counsel. It is their constitutional right!
3) They cooperated with LE within the advice of counsel.
4) They had solid alibis by many accounts.
One individual who asked Debbie for a date was told by her that they could remain friends. The relationship would go no further than that. This guy genuinely admired Debbie, respected her and accepted the boundaries she set. According the little information on him released by LE. This sounds legitimate. It is within the norms of how Debbie would handle the situation. Using her judgement to retain a friendship and work relationship. It has never been confirmed but this is probably the guy who left the awkward message.
The other individual variously described as quirky or even weird, apparently just wanted to be friends or closer to Debbie. I couldn't find anything indicating that Debbie had a sitdown with this individual. I couldn't find out anything specific ie. Did he make her feel uncomfortable or was She still trying to figure him out in order to handle the situation in the best possible manner.

From what I could find LE actually did a fairly thorough investigation of these two and "cleared" them. I know there are opinions posted on this thread that LE interviewed these two and just couldn't get enough evidence to connect them to the crime. This is a legitimate theory because LE never publicly officially cleared these guys before they concluded it was an accidental drowning. There have been threats, including death threats against these two suspects posted online. LE did not release their identities for a good reason. Two innocent parties could have been lynched!
I couldn't find any solid proof on Debbie being harassed by phone as depicted on the segment. I did find out that Debbie had a confrontation with an egotistical male while she was enjoying outdoor activities. An Army Sergeant was trying to boss her around and she put him in his place. He resented it so much he was still badmouthing her 9 months after her death. This individual was known to harass people including by phone. He should have been investigated. Someone posted Debbies phone records should have been investigated. I am in complete agreement. All of Debbie's phone message tapes and minitapes should have been listened to in case she recorded any harassing calls. We don't know if any of this was done because of the way her case was suddenly closed.

Added: The question if Debbie worked with mental patients has never been clearly answered. The VA hospital was a complete mess at the time and did it's best to stay out of the spotlight. I ran across a series of comments made by a relative of a nurse who worked with Debbie. This person never saw either suspect but recalls her relative talking about working and socializing with Debbie. This person's description of Jenny and her behavior was accurate. This person stated she went with her relative to the VA hospital and saw veterans there who had survived grotesque head wounds. These comments were made on another site about 15 years ago 2010. I made public posts and tried to pm them. No response. Hopefully they found another interest. Unfortunately many people didn't make it through the pandemic. I did not detect any falsehoods in this persons comments everything rang true.
There was a question/comment on whether the suspects were volunteers, hospital staff, or mental patients etc.
As Jenny changed her accusations, changes due to editing, and bloggers misunderstanding their resources or sensationalizing their posts the end result is mentally deranged stalkers, a far cry from a couple of guys that wanted to have lunch or a date.

Additional information

The thread Unsolved Mysteries locations photos has an excellent post with photos of Debbies Cabin and surrounding area. It was posted by dynoguy88 on 06-05-2012. It is located on page 16 of that thread.

Unpopular UM opinions has comments on the case.
Missing Evidence has comments on the case.

Additional information

The thread Unsolved Mysteries locations photos has an excellent post with photos of Debbies Cabin and surrounding area. It was posted by dynoguy88 on 06-05-2012. It is located on page 16 of that thread.

Unpopular UM opinions has comments on the case.
Missing Evidence has comments on the case.

Thank you so much for your hard work and for sharing further information about this case. I agree, I'd like to see more about this party angle. I don't know what else to think. If it was murder, what was the motive?? Other than Jennie's suggestion of the hospital volunteers, I have seen nothing else about a suspect. It's strange. Eta: I haven't had a chance to listen to the podcasts yet so I don't know if they suggested a suspect.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone!

On a sad note this December 26, 2025 is the 40th anniversary of Debbie Wolfes disappearance. January 1, 2026 will be the 40th anniversary of her discovery in a rusty 55 gallon burn barrel by diver Gordon Childress. She was physically recovered by Deputy Don Smith who also saw the barrel according to the Jan 1, 1988 article by Pat Reese.

Some background. Deborah Ann Wolfe an Airforce "Brat" had been a resident of Cumberland county since 1966 age 9 when her family returned from England. She was well known, well liked and respected. She had a huge circle of friends and acquaintences in area. She was a girl scout, attended schools and worked various jobs to include running the family bar in Eutaw Shopping center. The Pub was primarily a Green Beret hangout. Debbie was a sweetheart of the Special Forces community. She attended Nursing school and worked in Arkansas from Fall 1981-graduation 1983, prior to her return in 1984. Debbie was often mistakenly known as Debbie or Deb Edwards.

Jenny Edwards said that Debbie was known and loved by a great many people. This is absolutely true.

This a request for information. If you know any Debbie stories or photos please contact me and I will forward them to the family historian.

If you have information about Debbie or her family December 24, 1985-January 2, 1986 that could be related to the case please consult an attorney for who to contact and how.

I couldn't figure out how to post photos here. So I posted them on TikTok along with commentary. Some are previously unpublished, others not well known.
Debbie Wolfe, Deb to those close to her was an amazing young woman. Her mysterious death has overshadowed the positive impact she had on thousands of people. She saved lives, was a healer, educator, mentor, innovater, & loyal friend. It's hard to believe it has been 4 decades since she was with us.

You are underestimating how quickly cold water shock could affect some people. It could have happened in seconds. Hyperventilating is the most common reaction. Which would cause her to potentially breathe in water in such a small amount (teaspoon IIRC) being found and the medical examiner still ruling drowning as the cause of death. Unless of course someone, motive unknown, decided to kill her in such a way that no discernable trauma was found, who also decided to undress her and redress her in clothes that weren't hers, put her body in a barrel, put it into the pond, then get lucky enough for the cops to miss the barrel when they discover her body, who then goes back and retrieves the barrel from said pond in an effort to conceal that a barrel was used. This person was also clever enough to make sure that when they put Debbie's body into the water that she was alive just enough to breathe in a teaspoon of water which caused her to drown. The murder theory is completely illogical. Dying from cold water shock, while rare, makes more sense of the two theories with what is known.

I'm in complete agreement.

@stratego That seemed pretty hasty. I appreciate your interest and opinion. Both dynoguy88 & TheCars1986 have valid points. People tend to get hung upon a specific point or theory. Jenny did with her abduction murder theory. Sheriff Ottis Jones approved the drowned while playing with dogs theory. My working theory is Debbie was not intentionally killed. She died from an unknown medical problem or a freak accident during or after a party. Somebody panicked & dumped her. Gordon Childress describes swimming into her hard enough to dislodge his mask. The same force could have caused water to enter her upper respiratory system. Or she may have unconscious not dead when she was dumped. Please read the info I have previously posted. Please check out the tiktok posts. If I had the resources I would host a get together or seminar with everybody and all available evidence and info.I think MegtheEgg with her savvy should be in charge of this "dream team".

I don't think I was being hasty. I've revisited this case several times throughout the years. I just think TheCars1986 perfectly summarized the issues I also have with the murder theory. Even if she died accidentally at a party those issues would still stand.

I don't think I was being hasty. I've revisited this case several times throughout the years. I just think TheCars1986 perfectly summarized the issues I also have with the murder theory. Even if she died accidentally at a party those issues would still stand.

TheCars1986 theory is based on the supposition Debbie entered the pond & succumbed to the elements. The probability of her doing that is almost zero. There is no indication of thrashing or even wading. Debbie was a hardy person with common sense.

Photos of the recovery show green pond slime. No mud at all. Debbie wore form fitting 28x28 ladies slacks. The men's corduroy pants 30x30 were too long, big in the waist & unzipped. Debbie would not have worn them. The Pittsburgh Steelers crew neck, longsleeve, sweatshirt was much larger than she would wear comfortably. It was black with possibly two toned green at the logo. I couldn't find an exact match online. The brown & white flannel shirt with disinct red & green lines was under the sweatshirt with the collar worn outside. Debbie wore sweatshirts under loose or unbuttoned shirts. It was more practical & comfortable for her. Clothing, condition, position & location scream body dump.

Police incompetence at its finest.

Still stand by this statement

I'm absolutely astonished at you being so confident about what Debbie would or wouldn't have done or worn at that time in her life.

The argument that Debbie supposedly would've behaved against character does not negate the points TheCars1986 made about the murder theory.

Still stand by this statement
Honestly that was my original opinion. Based on my research and info including photos that was made available I think Jenny unintentionally derailed the investigation. There are conficting stories about the events of Dec 27,1985. And it just gets worse.

First, Law Enforcement can't respond until they are notified. Jenny called the Sheriffs dept in the early afternoon. The most reliable account states she was told to make a missing persons report after 72 hours. Other accounts state a deputy was was dispatched because Jenny was so insistent. The deputy couldn't find the place. Jack Watts was dispatched, arrived by 4PM and conducted a search with a bloodhound, negative results. I don't know what was done after that. Either way LE seems to have followed basic protocol. I agree with Jenny about the gravity of the situation. Debbie wouldn't neglect her dogs, More importantly She wouldn't skip out on her patients. She was extremely responsible.

The Pub, the family business didn't open that Friday. I saw the 8x11 paper in the window of the door. Closed due to family emergency was scrawled in Jenny's cursive angled diagonally. If Jenny had opened for business she could have shanghied a sizeable search party from the customers. Debbie would have probably been found by midnight. It wouldn't have brought her back to life but a lot of unnecessary suffering could have been avoided.
Jenny could get huffy and I think she didn't even think to inform the Sheriff's dept or coordinate when she did conduct searches. Everything was touched or trampled contaminating the scene.

It was unintentional but the inability of the family & LE to work together caused problems and mistakes were made by both. Debbie's cabin was not visible from the roads or firebreaks. The entrance to her driveway was difficult to spot under the best conditions.

Loss of the barrel: LE is responsible for failure to control the scene & loss of evidence. Jenny believed the killer(s) came back and took it. Highly unlikely. The area was alert now & it is much more difficult to find a barrel at night in a pond than dump one. One rumor is LE lost it, the predominant rumor was Jenny's friends lost it. Sounds like CYA from everybody.

Time & resources spent placating Jenny then defending themselves from her accusations hampered the investigation. I was not a big fan of LE in the area but I don't see deliberate wrongdoing in this case. Things were so muddled that some detectives continued to work the case even after Major Charles Smith announced it was death by accidental drowning.

I'm absolutely astonished at you being so confident about what Debbie would or wouldn't have done or worn at that time in her life.

The argument that Debbie supposedly would've behaved against character does not negate the points TheCars1986 made about the murder theory.
Debbie worked to achieve and maintain the highest standards & most efficient methods. That become her norm until she found something better. For example she started wearing men's leather nikes. They must have been better suited than the flat soled canvas tennis shoes that she and Jenny usually wore. Debbie always layered a specific way & scampering around with a light chambray jacket or flannel shirt flowing behind her like a cape was practically her trademark. Checkout the photo of her in the camouflage beret @findagrave.com.

She was probably dumped by a person or persons while she was dead, in a deep sleep or unconscious. Whether or not she woke up the water entering her mouth & nose probably triggered larnygospasms closing the airway. Succumbing to cold water drowning in this scenario is much more probable than wading into cold water or breaking ice. Ice formed during that days conditions wouldn't bear weight. Puddles didn't freeze solid enough to bear weight until evening of 27th.

TheCars1986 was engaged in sound critical thinking. That alone doesn't make his theory correct.

"Debbie worked to achieve and maintain the highest standards & most efficient methods."

Again, I'm absolutely astonished at you being so confident about what Debbie would or wouldn't have done or worn at that time in her life. You making such claims with full conviction doesn't make them correct.

"Succumbing to cold water drowning in this scenario is much more probable than wading into cold water or breaking ice.:

It really isn't. But the theory I read was that she was standing on the ice near the edge while playing with the dogs, slipped and fell in the water. Because she had some back problems, she couldn't get out easily and succumbed to hypothermia. Heck, even a fall in the water can cause your larnygospams. There's is nothing implausible about this very reasonable theory.

"TheCars1986 was engaged in sound critical thinking. That alone doesn't make his theory correct."

I don't think they have one specific theory, they just pointed out the issues with the murder/dumping theory.

@stratego
I have spoken to people that knew her very well over the years. She was well known & well liked. A female Army medic told me Debbie was smart & a lot of fun. I asked if she worked with her. Her attitude changed immediately. "No. Thank god!" Surprised I asked why. She said Debbie was a perfectionist about patient care. She was merciless to anyone including doctors that didn't do things right or give their best. This conversation took place early holiday season 1986. Someone found her for me last year. She didn't remember me or Debbie. 4 decades have passed. I am still trying to track down people that knew her from her return in 1984 to her demise.
I was stationed at Ft Bragg hence my handle. I was familiar with her cabin from bird hunting & bowhunting. I never went inside. I kept a safe distance. Same with the landlord's newer cabin which was filmed for the UM exterior shots. Further back on this thread, page 7, TheCars1986 has a comment with a working link to the cabin on googlemap. This is very usefull in my research. There has been so much development I couldn't find places I knew. The address was a rural route in 1986.
Based on my experiences in the area, conversations with people who knew or worked with her gives me a degree of confidence in my opinions. Even then I don't pretend to know it all.

Nice anecdote, but it proves absolutely nothing. I see my mother almost every day and she still doesn't know what's in my wardrobe. Colleagues can not be confident whatsoever about what she would've worn at home.

Anyone who knows me would also describe me as an extremely cautious person who would not just venture onto thin ice and they would be absolutely correct, but I still fell through an unexpected weak spot in the ice once when I went iceskating. One moment of inattentiveness and an accident can happen.

Even the suicide theory makes more sense. She simply could've stepped into the water without leaving any evidence.

Someone described Debbie's case as speculation & conjecture. Or words to that effect. The murder theories are speculation that have not been disproven. The accidental drowning is speculation that has never been proven. The suicide theory first appeared as a single post on the internet about 10 years ago with no basis. Pure speculation. As well thought out as TheCars1986's response to dynoguy88 was it is speculation.

The facts are Debbie was first missed when she didn't show up for 8-4 shift.The first thorough official search was completed Tuesday. The pond wasn't searched by anyone until 3 PM Wednesday Jan 1, 1986. Debbie was discovered in a rusty 55 gallon drum burn barrel. Not a sealed drum. 2 divers saw the barrel.

The missing person's case changed to a homcide investigation. Several detectives & deputies were involved. The evidence amassed was never completely processed because Sheriff Jones had NCSBI investigate his department. SBI investigation focused on whether procedure was correctly followed. They found no negligence or wrongdoing. There is no Debbie Wolfe case at SBI outside that investigation.

The cased was closed, Jan 3, 1986, as death by drowning by the Sheriff's department before the medical examiner's investigation & report were completed Feb 4, 1986.

Very little real info is available on the internet or anywhere else. Cumberland co purged Debbies casefile. Dr Godwin is no longer actively investigating or sharing any info he has. No one knows what happened to the clothing returned to Jenny or where Debbie's belongings wound up.

The UM episode focused on the dispute between Jenny & LE. Captain Jack Watts was scapegoated. The horrible conditions at the VA med center weren't depicted. Debbie was poorly portrayed. The scene of her heading into the woods with her flannel shirt flapping behind her is heartbreakingly accurate.

Most of my leads have literally been Dead Ends. They are on findagrave or Special Forces memorial sites. Memories have faded or people refuse to discuss this tragedy. Most of what I have found in 3 years can't be independently verified.

Your anectdote proves what people have been saying since 1986. Debbie would have simply got up and out of the water. You're still here.

I'm assuming that it's a verifiable fact that Debbie was in fact wearing the clothes when she was removed from the water that were eventually sent to Jenny Edward? I can't remember us discussing this anywhere over the years right off the top of my head, but--are we sure there wasn't an error in the Cumberland Co evidence room? I know that sounds like a goofy question, but I can't think of any reason why Debbie would be wearing reportedly strange clothes that don't seem to have belonged to her.

Other than this and the fact that her scrubs were found crumbled up on her kitchen floor, I don't think the theory that she accidentally fell or otherwise immersed herself in the pond and was overcome by the shock of the cold water is that far-fetched at all. So what do we make of the clothing situation?

I'm still here because I wasn't all alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere and I'm an agile person without back problems who, thanks to my upper body never going under, was able to crawl out of the hole with a little help. Anyone, including cautious people like Debbie and myself, could make an unfortunate fall and be less lucky.

I guess the alien abduction theory can't be ruled out either. The problem with this case is that there isn't enough evidence to prove or disprove any theory. That's partly due to LE investigation, but also just the circumstances. The murder theory, however, calls for the most speculation. More than the accidental fall or even suicide theory. Not only because there is no evidence of another party being involved, but also because of the issues it raises, which TheCars1986 mentioned.

And please no, don't refer to the existence of the barrel as if it's a fact. You are free to choose to believe in it, but there has never been proof of it. Even anecdotes won't change that.

@MegtheEgg
The uniform found on the floor was described as lightweight white. Jenny stated that it wasn't worn with pantyhose also on the hanger. I am guessing it was a short sleeve pantsuit whiteuniform. It was common to wear these or the summer white dress with heavy hose and long sleeve top like a henley or even long johns in winter or at Womack in summer when the A/C was too cold. Debbie handled cold well.

I still have a photo of Debbie emailed to me. She is on the table wearing a black Steelers crewneck longsleeve sweatshirt. It has green but I don't know if that is the sweatshirt or green slime from the pond. She is wearing a brown & white plaid cotton flannel shirt underneath. We all have our quirks & she simply didn't layer that way. Button up shirt was always outer layer usually unbuttoned.

I think I deleted the other photo or it was on a time limit. From a different source. Debbie is on the gurney similar to the reenactment. She is in a new sterile olive field jacket w/liner. I don't remember seeing the zipper on the brown corduroys. The bottoms were bunched up at the sneakers. Like guys "stack" their jeans now. I don't remember details of gloves. There may have been someone blocking the view in the middle.
I can't vouch for the fieldjacket. It may have been given to her that day. It wasn't her brother Johns faded olive (OG107) Vietnam era Navy issue. The field jacket, corduroys & shoes were the ones Jenny displayed during the UM episode. The pants, sweat top & flannel shirt belonged to three different guys. Jenny was right. They weren't Debbie's.

Jenny was devasted so Kevin had to make the ID. She didn't see the shirts.

Over time the sweatshirt has turned into a t-shirt & Nurses medical whites became scrubs.
I have added the Jan 1, 88 article to Debbie Wolfe articles thread & Debbie Wolfe clothing on this thread since most of you discussed this last a few years ago.

In the service we were taught there is no goofy or stupid question. But to give the best possible answer to any question. Whether Jenny recieved the clothes Debbie was recovered in was a valid question in 1986 & still is. The way the case was handled specifically the official conclusion cast doubt on the credibility of LE.

2024 & 2025 podcasts have reported Debbie was found in a sealed drum, wearing blue coveralls from Cape Fear maintenance, or nude. This deliberate sensationalism, and in some cases AI generated fiction has clouded an already difficult case.

I have previously stated my opinion that the LE theory is plausible but unlikely. Jenny & others poked big holes in it. No one witnessed anything remotely like that happening. It is both intelligent speculation & throwing things against the wall until something sticks. The field jacket & liner that supposedly took her under actually provides buoyancy initially especially when new. I know that from personal experience.


On the other hand 2 experienced divers stated they had seen the barrel. Deputy Don Smith stuck to his guns and it cost him his job. He was said to have gone to western NC, then Tennessee to work. I have not been able to track him down.

If Captain Watts, Kevin Gorton, Jeanie from the Pub, the Grissoms or anyone else tied to the events December 24, 1985-March 1986 or the UM production would give their recollections it would be very helpful, since all of original statements seem to be missing.
Does anyone have a copy of either autopsy? I know someone willing to take a look.

I'm assuming that it's a verifiable fact that Debbie was in fact wearing the clothes when she was removed from the water that were eventually sent to Jenny Edward? I can't remember us discussing this anywhere over the years right off the top of my head, but--are we sure there wasn't an error in the Cumberland Co evidence room? I know that sounds like a goofy question, but I can't think of any reason why Debbie would be wearing reportedly strange clothes that don't seem to have belonged to her.

There are a number of possibilities about the clothing and none of them require nefarious intentions. They could have actually been Debbie's, they could have been left there by a boyfriend/friend of Debbie's and she just threw them on, they could have been the wrong items returned to the family by the police department, Debbie may have lost weight over the years and threw on old clothes, etc.

Other than this and the fact that her scrubs were found crumbled up on her kitchen floor, I don't think the theory that she accidentally fell or otherwise immersed herself in the pond and was overcome by the shock of the cold water is that far-fetched at all. So what do we make of the clothing situation?

I envision a scenario where she comes home, the dogs are wanting to be left out, she hurriedly takes off her nurse uniform and throws some clothes on and goes outside with the dogs. No drugs, no alcohol, and no signs of foul play were found to be in her autopsy. There is no realistic scenario which involves anyone other than Debbie entering that pond.

There are a number of possibilities about the clothing and none of them require nefarious intentions. They could have actually been Debbie's, they could have been left there by a boyfriend/friend of Debbie's and she just threw them on, they could have been the wrong items returned to the family by the police department, Debbie may have lost weight over the years and threw on old clothes, etc. l<

I envision a scenario where she comes home, the dogs are wanting to be left out, she hurriedly takes off her nurse uniform and throws some clothes on and goes outside with the dogs. No drugs, no alcohol, and no signs of foul play were found to be in her autopsy. There is no realistic scenario which involves anyone other than Debbie entering that pond.

1) Yes the clothes Debbie was recovered in were the same ones Jenny recieved.
2) Yes she had significant weight loss in the last year
3) No the flannel shirt, the Steelers sweatshirt, the brown cordury & socks didn't belong to Debbie or boyfriend.

I learned the details of clothing from the Crime Garage podcast. I brought this up to a person that e-mailed me some Debbie Wolfe photos. They said they had photos of the recovery etc. I knew Debbie had a Pendelton wool shirt in brown & green plaid from 1981. I sent them a photo of a plaid close to the pattern. The postmortem photo I recieved is a cotton flannel shirt brown & white with green & red lines under a primarily black Steelers sweatshirt. Debbie is on a slab or operating table. I thought the shirt was like the shoes, something Jenny didn't remember or recognize. Jenny often pronounced the as thee. In excerpts of 1986 articles she says the shirt when referring to the Steelers sweatshirt. I think an editorial mistake or typo changed it to the black t-shirt. (The shirt to t-shirt).

I'm pretty sure I know who the shirt, sweatshirt & corduroy pants belong to. They were't Debbies. A woman that knew the owner of the sweatshirt couldn't remember anything. I can't track down the people who knew about the shirt & pants. Even if they had photos it wouldn't be definitive proof. Debbie or other persons would only have had access to that clothing after 4PM at the house on Boros st.
Debbie did have significant weight loss from when she returned in 1984, about 30 lbs. Her death weight was 140 lbs but she was waterlogged. She looks 130 in the Christmas 85 photos featured on UM. She was still a little bottom heavy "secretary spread".

I do agree sinister & nefarious motives have been unduly applied. The "Evil Eye" necklace is a case in point
That is a plausible scenario based on info available online. Debbie probably did go home shuck her uniform & unchain her dogs either taking them on a controlled leash walk or letting them run daily. Somone that knew her told me Debbie tried to leash walk them everday. That Morgan & Mason had sweet personalities but were very protective. They were outdoor dogs. I don't know if she ever allowed them inside.An account states she chained them by the doors when she was gone. The last time I was at the cabin around 1996 I stubbed my toe on an anchor point in a sand wallow by the porch. I found the other one by the door to the cinderblock addition. They were on the same side of the cabin where the dogs could see each other, cover their respective door but far enough apart to avoid tangling.

Based on piecemeal info from Jenny I thought Debbie had drowned by running off the road in Louisiana April or May 1986. Later that summer I learned the true story of the necklace. I also heard some guys in our battalion were questioned ref her death. Compounding one error with another I thought she may have been run off the road. A friend had piecemeal info that Debbie had been murdered & her parents were dead immediately jumped to the conclusion it was during a robbery of the Pub.

I was told by a reliable source that Debbie was at a house backing onto Mintz Pond for a while late afternoon early evening Dec 26,85. There was some horseplay, She became annoyed at her male companion things smoothed out. She was unconscious & slow to recover from sleephold, after more "horseplay" But she was in high spirits when they departed after 6Pm. Some new friends in a mustang convertible followed her to the cabin enroute to a party. This is 2 hours after she was seen leaving the hospital. She & her companion were wearing a plain black t-shirt & jeans. When I heard this I didn't connect it to her death because I thought she drowned in the Springtime in another state.

Debbie was not alone that night. The family found cigarette butts in an ashtray the next day Dec 27, 85. One was photographed by detectives. I posted the ashtray photo on tiktok. I have a tenative ID on one of the guys she met that night.

How you look at what I've found or my conclusions is up to you guys. We are all different and think differently. It gets intense on this site but remains civil.
Opposing opinions make me think of better ways to communicate.

Reference Debbie being in the middle of nowhere & conditions Dec 26/27
Page 7 of this thread has a treasure trove of information. MegtheEgg comment #97 posted weather data. TheCars1986 comment #100 posted a googlemap link that still works. Press location in blue. Once you're in choose streetview, or whichever overhead view, Map, Terrain, Satellite, works best for you.
EighthStreet comment #101 posted a 1993 aerial photo.

You can zoom in & out on googlemap to see the surrounding area.The area bounded by McArthur rd, Stacy Weaver Dr. & Ramsey St(US 401N) was heavily wooded mostly pines 40-100 ft. At the time There were a few businesses at the Ramsey Stacy Weaver intersection. East of Ramsey was dense housing with a couple of shopping areas on the rd. Outside the Stacy Weaver arch was dense housing, including the house Jerry F. Wolfe Sr. bought. To the north is Eureka Springs where Debbie started Highschool at PineForest. Sarge & Jenny may have lived in that area. The old Fayetteville Municiple airport was north. To the west is Smith Lake. Debbie's swimming spot & Simmons Army Airfield. Her cabin was about 100 yards from Mcarthur rd. The landlords cabin was 60-80 ft from McArthur rd & could be accessed by its own driveway or Debbies drive. You could see the entrance to her drive from there. Someone at the that cabin or further north on McArthur spotted a convertible night of Dec 26, 85. Sound carries at night so any thrashing or dogs barking would have been heard.

Debbies cabin was more like living just inside a park. A network of firebreaks allowed easy access in any direction. This was her comfort zone from childhood where she had played, bicycled, swam etc. It was peaceful & beautiful.
January 7 was when she was buried in Arcadia Cemetary, Louisiana. I posted a photo & comment on websleuths. It may still be up.

1) Route 6 Box 543B, Fayetteville, NC is the 1985 address for Debbie's cabin. Source is a December 3, 1985 speeding ticket. This was 23 days prior to her disappearance.
2) 5132 Hewitt Drive, Fayetteville NC is the address of the home owned by Jerry Wolfe Sr. Debbie's father. He sold it August 16, 1972 exactly one year after he divorced Virginia "Jenny".
This information is courtesy of The Family genealogist.

There are a number of possibilities about the clothing and none of them require nefarious intentions. They could have actually been Debbie's, they could have been left there by a boyfriend/friend of Debbie's and she just threw them on, they could have been the wrong items returned to the family by the police department, Debbie may have lost weight over the years and threw on old clothes, etc.

The clothes thing really bothers me because I think the most plausible explanation would be an error at the sheriff's office, yet there may be some photo evidence to suggest that she was in fact wearing those items, and at least one representative of the sheriff says THEY had photo evidence dating from before Debbie's death she did in fact at least own the shoes she was wearing. I too have owned and worn men's shoes sized down, so that's not a wild concept to me personally. It's all kind of odd and confusing.

I envision a scenario where she comes home, the dogs are wanting to be left out, she hurriedly takes off her nurse uniform and throws some clothes on and goes outside with the dogs. No drugs, no alcohol, and no signs of foul play were found to be in her autopsy. There is no realistic scenario which involves anyone other than Debbie entering that pond.

I know nurses were still largely wearing whites in the mid-80s and there was apparently an emphasis to keep those clean, starched, etc. (thank God we've moved on), but I typically have the opposite compulsion when my dog wants out and I've just gotten home. I figure my clothing is already contaminated from being worn in a healthcare setting, so why change out just to run around outdoors? Anecdotal, of course. But I don't see why you'd discard your uniform on the kitchen floor when the very vast majority of people are going to change in the bedroom--or for the very microbe-conscious among us, immediately throw them in a hamper or washing machine.

Also, wasn't the uniform on the kitchen floor a different one than what she wore on her last shift? The uniform her coworkers identified had long sleeves (which one coworker in particular remembered because she spilled something on one of them at lunch), but the one on the floor was short-sleeved and summer weight.

I watched the Robert Stack with original sound Debbie Wolfe segment on tiktok. Jenny picks up a shortsleeve white blouse in the reenactment. It looks like the kind worn outside not tucked in, that was the most common style.

There is an article or post version online where the uniform and pantyhose were still on the hanger on the floor. Different dates too. Jenny sent it to a lab in Florida. Results: It had not been worn since it had been washed. That is in the Pat Reese Jan1,88 article in the thread Debbie Wolfe articles.

The outrage at the Drowned playing with dogs theory is what kept this case alive and led to the UM episode. Almost no one took it seriously. Just about everyone who has seen the pond is convinced it would be very difficult to drown there. Almost cartoonish with or without a barrel. Everyone was polarized then with the overwhelming majority in the abduction murder camp. The Eastburn rape & murders had been in the spring. Other bodies were discovered in ponds & lakes. A seriel killer was thought to be in the area. Those that didn't believe the volunteers were involved thought "the seriel killer" got Debbie. One or two young men supposedly decided to join her in the afterlife. My retired neighbor drowned in that timeframe.

The nurses rumor mill had different versions of a nurse that died while partying.
I suscribed to the Fayetteville Observer & archives I did find the Pat Reese article & the ones by Larry Cheek already posted here by Justin5256. There is another procedure for the 1986/87 articles with additional fees. But I could never get a straight answer.

I think the swing on this thread from Jenny's side to the LE theory is because of her exagerations & most people seem to think it is an A or B choice. C,D & E aren't considered. Kevin Gorton could fill in a lot of blanks. But even he has been accused of being the killer online. Roger & Marvel Rushing were accused online. I recently came across a video where a guy with a carribean accent accuses me. I can see why people that knew Debbie aren't willing to discuss anything.

I changed sentence about another version online to a separate paragraph & added to it for clarity. I went to the Debbie Wolfe articles thread & confirmed the info on the uniform found on the floor is in Pat Reese's Jan 1, 1988 article. There is quote in that article by Major Charles Smith stating she fell into the pond looking for firewood. When that was published it was considered ridiculous by the locals.

Debbie Girl Scouts circa 1968-1970 photos 1&2 Her best friend is radiant. Debbie the prankster swiped a camp counseler's clothes when she was in the shower!
She is quiet & subdued in these photos. Her parents marriage dissolved about this time.

3 & 4. Yearbook 71st Highschool Fayetteville, NC 1976 & 1977 18-20 years old.She is a little gawkey. She reentered highschool & also cross enrolled in college at some point. Don't have Graduation info. She was working to become a teacher.

#5 Debbie in camouflage beret goofing around. Possibly by the cabin note white cinderblock wall in background. 1978-1980 timeframe.

#6 Probably late spring through summer 1985. Hair is sunfaded to auburn. Dr Maurice Godwin had this made into a billboard to raise awareness around 2010. She looks very different than when she disappeared and died.

#7 Camping on a motorcycle trip with friends 1985?

Debbie & same friend from previous photo where they were goofing around in masks. This is the 1985 camping trip. Guy in red t-shirt is same guy in tent photo. Friend on mountainside camping 1985. Don't know who her friends are. Rugged outdoorsmen could be military elites or local North Carolinians. Unknown woman friend in front of Debbie's Unicorns at her cabin. Looks like they are getting ready to hit the town. Debbie could socialize & have fun without drinking. She was often the designated driver & mother hen helping out the hosts, making sure everyone got home okay. She did drink bottled Michelobe or gift/free beer in a safe environment when she had the next day off. No known drug use.

Martha Raye, Aunt Maggie to the servicemen & women. Debbie met her at the July 1980 Special Forces association formal ball. Maggie was impressed with her. Their private talk may have influenced Debbie to become a nurse. They met again at least once at the VA Med center after Debbie was an RN. Both of these remarkable women devoted their lives to veterans & active military. It's largely unknown to the general public.

This is a drawing made early 2024, from memory of area around Debbies cabin. I first saw the cabin from the northern woodline of the "meadow/ clearing" quail hunting in Nov 1977. I learned Debbie knew of this cabin Autumn 1980. I tried to rent the cabin in late Summer 1984. Debbie beat me to it. I did get a garbled message that a woman had called and was not interested in a male roommate. Fall 1985 I was in the area asking residents for permission to hunt in the woods. It was overrun and looked like an offroad race. I saw a small woman with a bottom scramble up out of the fire break into the woods with 2 German Shepherds on leash. Probably Debbie. Too much chaos I left. I did try again later but some of the trailerhouse bunch weren't thrilled & I was warned about a finicky woman with dogs. I saw an "over dressed tall Italian" woman with a large German Shepherd by the new cabin. The both looked elegant. I didn't bother to get out. I thought this "city woman" would certainly say no & might not be able to control her dog. Had to have been Debbie. Feb 1986 while cleaning up I found a sloppily written note from my roommate that the cabin might be available. It had been written in November 85. The next & last time I saw the place was late 1990s boarded up & dysmal. I always missed the driveway from Mac Arthur rd so I would approach from the firebreaks off of Stacy Weaver.

I didn't know Debbie lived there until I saw a photo posted by Dr. Godwin in late 2023. I didn't know where Debbie or her family lived.I had heard Eureka Springs mentioned. A potential address for the Edwards was razed for I-295. I recently learned where the trailer park they owned was on Murchison rd & that Jerry Debbies father owned a house on the northeast side of Stacy Weaver rd.

I considered applying for insider status but I only knew the family from drinking at The Pub. We were in different social circles and rarely ran into each other anywhere else. I mentioned Debbie was also known as Deb Edwards. She didn't pass her self off as an Edwards. It was just a common mistake. Those most familiar with her called her Deb. I didn't feel comfortable saying that. Despite posts & articles saying she was from Louisiana or Arkansas She always considered herself a North Carolinian. I had no idea Debbie was back in the Fayetteville area permanently until long after her death.

The cabin is misplaced on drawing. It should be to the east/right of the driveway. Road off of MacArthur maybe Caskey.

December 19, 1990 UM episode (80) Season 3 episode 14 was aired. Robert Stack narrated the 48 minute 6 second episode. Death by Drowning (Debbie Wolfe) segment was 14 minutes 52 seconds. It is the first one beginning at 2 minutes 17 seconds (02:17) concluding at 17 minutes 10 seconds (17:10).

Episode Introduction, Robert Stack: "Christmas Day 1985, relaxed joyful holiday for 28 year old Debbie Wolfe and her family. 7 days later Debbie's body was found submerged in an oil can in a pond behind her home. Police say she drowned accidently. Her mother says it was murder."
Robert Stack intoduces other segments.

Robert Stack: "When Debbie Wolfe a 28 year old nurse from Fayetteville, North Carolina disappeared. Her family became understandably concerned. It began as tragic but uncomplicated missing persons case, but a number of unanswered questions hinted at a darker question. For Debbies friends and family the police investigation appeared flawed."

Jenny Edwards (Debbie's Mother): "Debbie thought that helping people ..." She describes and dicusses her daughter.

Robert Stack: "On Wednesday December 25th, 1985 Debbie celebrated a typical family Christmas at her mother's home. A day devoted to close friends and goodwill. 4PM the day after Christmas, upon completing her shift at the hospital, Debbie Wolfe left work. Presumably heading home."

Jenny: "The next morning Debbie should have been at work...."
Comment: UM archives version is heavily edited and reads as if Debbie missed reporting for work the day after Christmas.

Robert Stack: "December 27th, the day after Debbie disappeared. Jenny Edwards drove to Debbie's home with her husband John and a family friend Kevin Gorton. Debbie lived in an isolated cabin 7 miles outside of Fayetteville. Because Debbie was unusually neat and meticulous they were surprised by what they found in and around the cabin."

Comment: Debbies cabin is 5.4 miles from the Market(slave market) square(now a circle) that has always been considered the center of town. It is 2.9 miles from the VA Med center & 0.9 miles road distance from Ramsey St, where dense suburban housing begins and small shopping centers lined Ramsey St. I can't find city limits on google. Perhaps the 7 mile distance came from Jenny. One of the possible locations of the Edwards home is in Eureka Springs 7 miles from the Market

Description: A small white pickup arrives at the cabin. A large sable German Shepherd stands quietly by a tree. A smaller black & tan German Shepherd barking trots into view, tail curled high. John, Jenny & Kevin get out, view and discuss beer cans, The red Pontiac, and empty dog dishes. They enter the cabin and look around. Jenny picks white blouse from floor, Kevin appears with Debbie's purse.

Robert Stack: "Kevin Gorton found Debbie's purse shoved back under her bed. There was also an odd message on Debbie's answering machine. Recorded earlier that day before Jenny arrived. 50 feet from the cabin was a pond. They searched the entire area and found no trace of Debbie. Jenny Edwards called the Sheriff's office. She was told law enforcement would become involved only after 72 hours had lapsed from the time of the disappearance. On Tuesday December 31st, the Sheriff's department finally conducted a full scale search. 5 days after Debbie had last been seen."

Comment: Debbie was last seen officially 4PM December 26. The Sheriff was notified afternoon of December 27th. The search was not conducted Immediately after Jenny submitted the official missing persons report December 30th because Major Nichols couldn't find the cabin.

Jenny: "They searched the cabin. Later that afternoon they brought the Bloodhounds out.... They walked around the pond. I was there for that...."

Captain Jack Watts: "Of course some the individuals there had uh. That were friends of the family that had been there a couple of days prior, had done some searching on their own. And uh I think it was mentioned they had aleady looked in the pond. So I don't think we did a dive or a complete search of the pond. No we did not."

Description: Jenny asks if she can use her divers. It's approved

Robert Stack: "New Year's Day 1986, Debbie Wolfe had been missing for 6 days. Kevin Gorton and another friend, Gordon Childress, returned to the pond. Both men were familiar with rescue work. Gordon dragged the pond looking for evidence."

Description: Kevin remains on the bank. Gordon enters the pond submerges, surfaces reporting footprints. Submerges, swims into Debbie's shoes. Surfaces, reports a body.

Robert Stack: "2 sets of footprints were found along with a dragmark. The prints remained in the mud for weeks. The police were called to the scene"

Comment: The footprints & dragmark lasted less than 7 day. They couldn't be found January 2nd when the pond was lowered. The green spot that appears to be a little island in the south part of the pond is the overflow drain. Placing the outflow of a pump in the drain is the easiest way to drain the pond.

Description: Reenactment of divers and rescue personnel retrieving Debbie's body from the pond, tranferring to stretcher, identification.

Robert Stack: "The dead woman was identified as Debbie Wolfe."

Description: Reenactment of loading the body into ambulance. Jenny discuss barrel and decision to leave it.

Robert Stack: "An autopsy revealed no trace of drugs or alchohol in Debbie's system. There were no obvious signs of foul play. The coroner ruled the cause of death as drowining. But was unable to determine exactly when Debbie had died. A number of discrepancies soon surfaced. Which led Debbie's family and friends to believe had not drowned."

Captain Jack Watts: "We theorize that if it was accidental drowning..."

Comment: Captain Watts wording indicates accidental drowning was just a possible theory not a proven fact.

Robert Stack: "Police also began to deny that the body had been found inside of a barrel."

Robert Stack: "A few months later Jenny discovered another inconsistency"

Description: Jenny looks at bra, corduroy pants, & new olive field jacket with liner from cardboard box.

Jenny: " Bra was cup size, 3 sizes too large for her and around size it would be 2 sizes too large. The shoes, Debbie wore a lady's size 7. And these were a men's six which winds up being about three sizes larger."

Comment: The Nikes size charts have a 4 millimeter difference between womens 7 and mens 6, half a size. Men's 6 = women's 7 1/2. Other charts vary.

Description: Captain Watts ackowledges the family would know more about Debbie's clothes than the department. He points out the department had photos of Debbie wearing the shoes prior to her death.

Robert Stack: "Jenny Edwards became convinced that Debbie had been murdered. Among her duties at work Debbie was assigned to coordinating the hospital volunteers. "

Reenactment: Jenny describes a hospital volunteer with a known history of psychiatric illness pressing Debbie for a date.

Robert Stack: "According to Jenny the volunteer obtained Debbie's home phone number."

Description: reenactment of hospital scenes and volunteers harassing Debbie.

Comment: It was common practice for workers, volunteers and supervisors to have each others contact info to include after hours (home) phone number. A complete chart with everyones info was often kept at the office.

Reenactment: Jenny describes this suspect as questioned by the sheriff, refusing a polygraph & going out of state.

Robert Stack: "The second man suspected by Jenny Edwards was also a hospital volunteer."

Reenactment: Debbie (actress) "...I have a boyfriend!" rejecting 2nd volunteer.

Robert Stack: "Jenny was convinced this was the man who called Debbie the day after she disappeared. Expressing concern she had been missing from work for days. The second suspect was also questioned by police."

Captain Watts: "We interviewed..." Discusses lack of usable evidence concludes it probably was not homicide.

Robert Stack: "What really happened to Debbie Wolfe? Her mother believed she was taken hostage by one of the two suspects, kept alive for several days and finally killed. Later she believes someone returned to the pond to remove the barrel so that a ruling of foul play would be dismissed."

Jenny concludes with plea for someone to come forward.

Originally I was just going to use a couple of excerpts to show that Debbie worked her 8AM-4PM shift December 26, 1985 and Robert Stack said so. I found some errors including RS saying the tracks in muddy pond lasted for weeks. They were gone in less than one week. Does this mean RS abducted Debbie? Of course not.

Jenny's description of Debbie falls into the Mom's little angel category most grieving parents present.
I disagree. Debbie in fact was far more in the best meaning. She had overcome adversity to complete her education and become a certified RN. She was a shining example of excellence. She was physically fit and fully capable of defending herself verbally and physically. She was calm and self confident. So the portrayal of her as timid, snippy Hitchcock victim is all wrong. If she was showering when Anthony Perkins dropped by he would have been the one left in a pool of blood. Years of unwanted advances working in the family bar taught her how to handle men without making enemies. In fact most became her loyal friends.

I don't know if she had a stalker, thought she was being stalked or if it was a misunderstanding or exaggeration by Jenny. Previous "stalkers" had all turned out to be friends trying to reconnect.
The terms shadow, ghost or haunt were used in that area before stalker became the norm.
However the holiday season Debbie was vulnerable because she didn't want to disappoint anyone or miss out on anything. Sleep deprivation caused errors in judgement. None approaching walking into the middle of an icy pond after dark in search of firewood.

Fayetteville was and is a large urban/suburban area. It isn't Andy Griffith's Mayberry or In the Heat of the Night Sparta. Debbie's cabin was tucked away not isolated. The pond was in front of her house between it and McArthur rd. Exteriors were filmed at the landlords cabin located about equidistant between a sunken firebreak to the west, McArthur to the south, her driveway and pond to the east. Debbie's cabin was not out in the wilderness. The undeveloped pine forest was the hole in a donut of connected residential areas & bordering the military reservation to the northwest.

The Military connection is absent. The volunteers included dependent children, spouses, active duty army. Some of the Army personnel were "assigned volunteers" to prevent collapse of VA medical sevices. Entire mobile hospital units including Guard and Reserve rotated under the guise of manuevers to contain patient overflow. Debbie organized, ran and evaluated a medical OJT program within the volunteer services. Her boyfriend at the time was CID Military Police. The 2 suspects were probably young Green Berets who only wanted lunch or a date with Debbie.

Captain Watts didn't come off well. But his responses are respectful and seem honest. The wording of his answer about searching the pond is interesting. It almost matches the 1988 article word for word except the article says the deputies told John Edwards they(the deputies) could see the bottom of the bottom and there was no need for it to be searched. Did Captain Watts brush up on the case and get confused about who said what? Or was the deputies report confusing? What he said, about information obtained from the volunteers,x has been interpreted as meaning they had info but not enough to indict. I has also been said to simply mean they found nothing to warrant further investigation.

The little creep seemed like an awkwardly sinister Tony Orlando. I found those scenes laughable not scary.
The big creep has a resemblance to Dr Maurice Godwin and I wondered if he had done a cameo.
The actress portraying Debbie acted more like Jenny overreacting and being snippy. She has a resemblance to Miss NC Rhonda Noble but is probably someone else.
Jenny was herself for the most part. She doesn't wear her thick nicotine stained glasses. Jenny was like an aggressive chain smoking Estelle Getty in real life. She could be scary at times.
It was pointed out on another thread that the red Pontiac had lightning shifters. They are visible during the scene where Christmas presents are shown on the car seats.
It was pointed out on another thread that Jenny can be heard on the answering machine "Debbie, this is your Mother" in a cranky voice. She was dealing with a lot and she tended to default to crabby bossyness anyway.

The 1988 article by Pat Reese stated the nurses uniform found on the floor had not been worn since last laundered. Not including that detail has led to needless speculation.
Debbies waterbed was replaced by a cherry 4 post in the segment. I have found people can't help themselves and set waterbeds into motion. If Debbie had her purse on her bed she or a visitor could have launched her purse into the "awkward spot". She bought the bed in 1980 because it was the trend and she believed it would relieve muscle soreness in her back.

I was a regular at the Pub,the family business. Many comments are based on personal observation. Kind of like the mailman on Cheers commenting about Kirstie Alley.

Inspite of its shortcomings the original episode had a lot of information that has been "lost" or distorted on the internet.

UNSOLVED COUPLE, terrific podcast, did a recap of Debbie Wolfe and they make the case that the police botched this case. They viewed it as a drowning and there were unanswered questions. I'm inclined to agree that the police did not do their job here. What is sad is that her family members have passed on, and there is no one to keep this case alive to find out what really happened.

UNSOLVED COUPLE, terrific podcast, did a recap of Debbie Wolfe and they make the case that the police botched this case. They viewed it as a drowning and there were unanswered questions. I'm inclined to agree that the police did not do their job here. What is sad is that her family members have passed on, and there is no one to keep this case alive to find out what really happened.

This wasn't a bad podcast. the only new mistake I found is they state Kevin Gorton, Jenny and John (Sarge) Edwards first went to the cabin to check on Debbie Dec 28, 1985. It was actually afternoon of Dec 27, 1985. They do perpetuate some of Jenny's mistakes and exaggerations.

I promised somebody either in one of the public forums or in a PM that I would list the online sources I had found. so I just posted a new thread of Debbie Wolfe podcasts. When you guys get the time and inclination view, comment and add. Thanks!

I started online research into Debbie Wolfe Fall 2023. My objective at the time was twofold: find out what happened since 1995 and contact her brother John for assistance with VA.
I am not good with paperwork or computers. I both envy and admire those of you with good research and writing skills.

Google will take you into some strange stuff. There is at least one Debbie Wolfe site that is Adult material photos another that appears to be an escort service. And yes they use headshots of Debbie.

A lone post from 2007 or 2017 claims police made her death out to be a suicide. No info that this was ever an LE theory, much less statement.
A book club has an online biography. Check for complaints etc. All of the online bio's I have seen are AI generated fiction. One of those clubs has first month free and no exit. I had to stop payment at the bank after e-mails were ignored. Buyer beware!

B) I have tried to investigate the various theories presented in online comments, no matter how outlandlish some seemed to me.
1. Married man theory: Steve McDonald was Debbie's steady boyfriend according to The Fayetteville Observer & possibly other sources. Couldn't find a photo. There was a married man by that name connected to LE. No proven connection to Debbie. It's a common name. One of the men from the house on Mintz Pond who left with Debbie to her cabin was married. He is a potential witness. The owner or renter of that house was said to be married. Debbie dying at a married mans house, motive for body dump. There was a married man with the same name as one of Debbies pallbearers whose family was massacred a few years later. It remains unsolved. I couldn't verify it was her pallbearer.

2. Debbie had an ex in LE that hated her. Couldn't find anything. PMd the commenter, no response. According to two reliable sources Debbie had been married at least once, possibly twice. Their info didn't match each other. Couldn't find anything on ancestry or online. There may be divorce or more likely annulment (She was Catholic) recorded somewhere.

3. A comment was made that she was part of a call girl operation & murdered by her pimp. I PMd, no response. The public comment I made on that site was pulled by moderaters. You can make defamatory remarks at will there as long as you're one of the cool kids. Found no substance.

4. The real estate theory that someone wanted her to move out for development was presented. That doesn't seem to hold water. A major unit was leaving Ft Bragg at the time. Development on post & off was on hold. It was a buyers market. If she in fact died at, was discovered dead at a house in Fayetteville that would impact real estate value for the home and the neighborhood. A possible motive for body dump.

5. Debbie witnessed something, was silenced or went into witness protection. Debbie was positively identified by her mother and others at the pond recovery. Kevin did the official ID. She was viewed by mourners. She was autopsied twice about a month apart. Jenny battled LE in the press for nearly two decades. This seems to be a wild internet rumor with no substance.

Local North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas and Louisiana researchers may be able to find info that never made it to the internet.
1) School records Where did she attend gradeschool, highschool, college. When did she graduate.
2) When, where and who did she marry? (Dillon, SC?)
3) Church records: Baptism, First communion, Confirmation, Marriage, Annulment, etc.
4) Civil records: residences, traffic tickets, misdemeanors, domestic disputes, marraige, divorce etc.
5) Newspaper and local magazine articles on microfiche or hard copy in libraries or other collections & archives.
6) Police and PI notes, records,reports, photos in private hands that survived the purge.

C. Deleted Debbie Wolfe material: A post on Reddit discussing that the poster theorized someone close to Debbie was involved in her death and body dump has disappeared. The same poster said comments they posted on the Unsolved Mysteries official site were pulled and Debbies segment had been closed. This was in 2023. The same happened when I posted comments on the official UM site. Debbies segment closed in Dec 2023. When it reopened about 75% of my comments were restored.
Reddit seems to pull comments that don't fall in line with Jenny's abduction/murder theory. Potentially contraversial theories are also pulled. The one entitled Could it be a police coverup was posted twice and pulled twice.
I was never able to get into the Unexplained Mysteries article on Debbie's case. It seems the entire site went off line Friday June 5, 2026.
On another site a wrecking ball was taken to the Debbie Wolfe thread established by Dr. Maurice Godwin in 2012. The "moderater" wasn't even a member until 2018. They decided Dr. Godwin who probably has the largest single collection of Debbie Wolfe info is not insider qualified. Worse yet Dr. Godwin's article is gone, replaced by a link to a stockbot. Except for the initial post all of Dr. Godwin's commentary & answers to questions were deleted.


There is still a lot of missing info to flesh out Debbie's case and personal story out there.

This case may still be solvable. Potentially anyone out there could make a difference.