Hi-

I am not too sure if this subject has been touched on before here, but I was wondering if anyone had any updates on the kidnapping of Annie Laurie Hearin. She was the socialite wife of a man involved with school photography, and she was kidnapped from Jackson, Mississippi because some people had been swindled out of money and Annie Laurie's hubby had made some bad business decisions. Apparently they caught the guy involved, but Annie Laurie has never been found.

I did a search for her and located some information:

http://dm.olemiss.edu/archives/98/9807/980728/980728N3hearin.HTML

http://dm.olemiss.edu/archives/98/9807/980729/980729N5hearin.HTML

http://www.msmuseumart.org/special3.html

There has been a fund established in her name that deals with art exhibits, but I have yet to find anything else on her. The last time I saw this haunting story on a rerun of UM, it was not updated. In a horrific twist of irony, I found out that the actress who portrayed Annie Laurie in the segment was actually a friend of the family and died recently after being assaulted in her Jackson home.

As of 1998, Annie Laurie has never been found. Does anyone else have any information?

Thanks-
Allie

Deleted

Originally posted by Allierain
As of 1998, Annie Laurie has never been found. Does anyone else have any information?

There was a story about the case on a cable TV show called The FBI Files, which airs on the Discovery Channel. The episode, entitled "Vanished," originally aired in December of 2001.

Here's a missing persons link on Annie Hearin:

http://www.angelfire.com/wy/doe/505dfms.html

Hope this helps.

There was a story about the case on a cable TV show called The FBI Files, which airs on the Discovery Channel. The episode, entitled "Vanished," originally aired in December of 2001.

Arrgh! I love that show! Perhaps they will show this episode again some day.

Thanks for the link. I surfed over DoeNet- what a wonderful site for missing and unidentified victims.

-Allie

Originally posted by Allierain


Arrgh! I love that show! Perhaps they will show this episode again some day.

Thanks for the link. I surfed over DoeNet- what a wonderful site for missing and unidentified victims.

-Allie

More than likely, they will. Next time the episode airs, I'll try to find out, and give you as much advance notice as possible.

The disappearance of Annie Hearin isn't the only UM case to be featured on The FBI Files. Another one was the 1989 murder of Dan Short, a Noel, Missouri bank president.

Is there still no update on this case? It's such a tragic one.

Is there still no update on this case? It's such a tragic one.


I agree. Her husband's heart attack was probably caused by the stress of her disapperance. Sad, sad, sad. Unless they get this Winn guy to tell them where her remains are, she'll probably never be found.

I believe that Annie is still missing. Her husband died a few years ago I believe also. I am pretty sure she was killed in the beginning. I wish the guy who was caught would tell the cops where her body is to give her family some rest.

where is the guy now?

where is the guy now?

He has a few years left on his prison sentence. After being convicted of conspiracy in the kidnapping of Annie Hearin, Newton Alfred Winn was sentenced to 19 years and 7 months in prison without parole. Since his trial took place in 1989, this means the prison sentence will end sometime in 2008 (at the very earliest).

Her Doe Network profile (at the link below) acknowledges that the case was profiled on UM. In addition, it mentions that the Discovery Channel series FBI Files did a story on the case in a 2001 episode entitled "Vanished."

http://doenetwork.us/cases/505dfms.html

Our Justice system sometimes seems flawed.How does this scumbag kidnap this lady,get found guilty of it,and get sentenced to what is really a slap on the wrist few years,and meanwhile this woman is still missing and has to be presumed dead. I guess if you are going to kidnap and/or kill someone,just make sure they cant find the body-no body-no murder charge.What a joke! If she was alive,you would think this guy would have ler police to her,so get himself a better deal,since he didnt do that she must be dead. What a shame

Our Justice system sometimes seems flawed.How does this scumbag kidnap this lady,get found guilty of it,and get sentenced to what is really a slap on the wrist few years,and meanwhile this woman is still missing and has to be presumed dead. I guess if you are going to kidnap and/or kill someone,just make sure they cant find the body-no body-no murder charge.What a joke! If she was alive,you would think this guy would have ler police to her,so get himself a better deal,since he didnt do that she must be dead. What a shame

i concur. gotta wonder how people with compelling arguments (stuart heaton for example) get life sentences while others who are obviously guilty (james king, kenneth mcduff) are let go and resume their killing ways.

there was something in this segment that I got a kick out of. Stack mentions that the van and the pick-up truck as being 'out of place in the neighborhood'. And I'm thinking 'yeah, because they're not porsches or BMW's'. :lol:

I saw the case on the FBI Files. I remember that one of the things that pointed police in his direction was what he wrote in the ransom letter. He tried to pass himself off as not that smart in the letter but he wrote that he wanted those wronged by the husband to have damages paid to them. Someone stupid probably wouldn't use the word damages and it's a legal term. The guy who committed the crime was a lawyer so that's who they looked at.

I don't understand why they can't charge this guy with murder. Cases have been won without a body before, and he's already been convicted of kidnapping her; if he's unwilling to produce her alive and well, doesn't that pretty much have to mean he murdered her? I don't see much in the way of reasonable doubt there.

In another matter, isn't there a kidnapping case involving another old lady where she actually is returned to her family? I seem to remember this, and actually when I started watching this one I thought this was that case.

In another matter, isn't there a kidnapping case involving another old lady where she actually is returned to her family? I seem to remember this, and actually when I started watching this one I thought this was that case.

You might be thinking of Loretta Myers, who was in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. She started seeing a much younger man, and quickly married him. He in turn quickly took her away from her family and drove her all around the country, telling her family at one point that they would never see her again. She was eventually reunited with her family, unfortunately the authorities were never able to do much with the guy since they were legally married and it was tough to prove he was doing it against Loretta's will since she had Alzehimer's. He did flee authorities at one point, so I think he should have at least been charged for that. But it was pretty obvious to me he was taking advantage of her due to her condition, too bad he got off so easy. I think he would have eventually started draining her bank accounts and such.

Actually, I read on another forum that he was released in 2006. He's 83 or 84 now. Horrible person to do such a thing to a frail woman.

just saw this case again

bet it never gets solved

just saw this case again

bet it never gets solved

You're just a bowl of sunshine, aren't you? Of course she might not be alive, she'd be in her late 90's by now and it's possible she's been dead for a long, long time. She also had an intestinal disorder that required medication that could be fatal if left untreated, so even if she wasn't killed, she would've possibly succumbed to the disease sometime later.

It makes me so mad that the guy was released and never said so much as a word about this poor lady's wherabouts. It is really too bad that he gets to walk around free while a family suffers.

It makes me so mad that the guy was released and never said so much as a word about this poor lady's wherabouts. It is really too bad that he gets to walk around free while a family suffers.

Wasn't the guy charged the one who allegedly started the conspiracy to kindap her? And didn't he say there were others involved and that he had nothing to do with killing her or disposing her body? The details on the case are fuzzy for me.

I always wondered if this unidentified woman could be Mrs. Hearin. I tried looking it up on Namus to see if there were any rule outs, but I couldn't find the UID lady on there.

Does anyone know of Mrs. Hearin ever had spinal surgery? This UID lady did. She also had expensive dental work. I wonder if that would match up with Mrs. Hearin.

The odd route that the guy had taken (mailing the letter in another state, georgia?) and stuff like that made me think he may have abducted her at her home, but then drove her to FL to dump her body. The UID lady's cause of death was blow to the back of the head.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/323uffl.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hearin_annie.html

I always wondered if this unidentified woman could be Mrs. Hearin. I tried looking it up on Namus to see if there were any rule outs, but I couldn't find the UID lady on there.

Does anyone know of Mrs. Hearin ever had spinal surgery? This UID lady did. She also had expensive dental work. I wonder if that would match up with Mrs. Hearin.

The odd route that the guy had taken (mailing the letter in another state, georgia?) and stuff like that made me think he may have abducted her at her home, but then drove her to FL to dump her body. The UID lady's cause of death was blow to the back of the head.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/323uffl.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hearin_annie.html

I don't know. I'm not sure what clothing Annie Hearin was wearing when she was abducted, but the description of the victim's clothing (shorts, crop top) doesn't sound like something a wealthy 73-year old woman would be wearing. Unless, of course, her kidnappers changed her clothes and had her wear those.

Finally found the UID lady on namus. I was doing searches with the #1177, UP#1177, 1177..... nothing was coming up. Don't know what I was doing wrong, but here she is.

https://identifyus.org/cases/1177

Mrs. Hearin isn't on their rule out list, but that doesn't really mean a lot with namus. Sometimes they don't enter the info even if the comparisons have been done.

Regarding the crop top, it says it was found with the body, along with blue jeans AND shorts. That's kind of weird. Makes me think the items were discarded with her and that she wasn't wearing them all at the same time. Size 16 shorts found with this body and I think I read somewhere that they would be too big for Mrs. Hearin, but then usually a person who wears a ladies size 16 pants wouldn't wear a size medium top, which is what was found with her.

It almost seems like these clothes might not belong to the victim they were found with, but they also didn't think she was homeless. I think homeless people are more likely to have differently sized clothes and layers or extras, like the one pair of pants for cooler weather and shorts for hotter.

They even have the serial numbers on the UID lady's surgical implants. You'd think there were would be records to match those up to but I have read about doctors not keeping good records and that's caused some dead ends with trying to ID victims.

To clear up some confusion, Mr. Hearin died quite awhile ago, in 1990, 2 years after Annie Laurie's kidnapping.

I don't recall hearing anything about Mr. Hearin swindling people out of money. I do remember hearing that there were some rogue franchises of School Pictures that had debts and Hearin sought out the money that was owed to him. But I definitely don't recall hearing that Hearin was involved in shady business dealings. He was the wealthiest man in Mississippi at the time and didn't need to resort to that kind of thing.

I think that Annie Laurie may have been alive for some time after her kidnapping, perhaps even several weeks, but I fear that she is probably long since dead.

The second note is positively chilling: "Bob, if you don't do what these people want you to do, they are going to seal me up in the cellar of this house with only a few jugs of water. Please save me" :eek:

This is really a maddening case for several reasons. 1), Robert Hearin complied fully with the ransom demands, mailing out over a million dollars to the 12 listed. There was no reason Annie couldn't have been returned. 2) Sadly, Wynn struck at the right time. The Hearins housekeeper left at 3 p.m., and Robert returned at 4:30, so that left a relatively narrow window for him to strike as there were other people in the house at all other hours of the day. 3) Robert and Annie were 2 years away from their Golden (50th) anniversary.

I agree that Wynn's sentence is too lenient.

To clear up some confusion, Mr. Hearin died quite awhile ago, in 1990, 2 years after Annie Laurie's kidnapping.

I don't recall hearing anything about Mr. Hearin swindling people out of money. I do remember hearing that there were some rogue franchises of School Pictures that had debts and Hearin sought out the money that was owed to him. But I definitely don't recall hearing that Hearin was involved in shady business dealings. He was the wealthiest man in Mississippi at the time and didn't need to resort to that kind of thing.

I think that Annie Laurie may have been alive for some time after her kidnapping, perhaps even several weeks, but I fear that she is probably long since dead.

The second note is positively chilling: "Bob, if you don't do what these people want you to do, they are going to seal me up in the cellar of this house with only a few jugs of water. Please save me" :eek:

This is really a maddening case for several reasons. 1), Robert Hearin complied fully with the ransom demands, mailing out over a million dollars to the 12 listed. There was no reason Annie couldn't have been returned. 2) Sadly, Wynn struck at the right time. The Hearins housekeeper left at 3 p.m., and Robert returned at 4:30, so that left a relatively narrow window for him to strike as there were other people in the house at all other hours of the day. 3) Robert and Annie were 2 years away from their Golden (50th) anniversary.

I agree that Wynn's sentence is too lenient.

This case bothers me so much. There is so much selfishness and greed twined throughout it. It's disgusting. Bless Robert and Annie Laurie.

This case bothers me so much. There is so much selfishness and greed twined throughout it. It's disgusting. Bless Robert and Annie Laurie.

Yes, Bless the Hearins. I also liked their son too. I know a lot of children of wealthy parents can be sometimes greedy, but he didn't strike me that way at all, and seemed genuinely devoted to his family and had a successful career as a lawyer in his own right. The Hearins were worth 100-200 mil at the time.

What's also frustrating is that there were specks of blood found near the front entrance matching Annie Laurie's blood type, suggesting that she was assaulted. I guess I hoped she died of natural causes, but who knows what that creep did to her. She was 72 years old at the time and couldn't have put up much of a fight and physically attacking her was completely unnecessary. I think Winn has been released from prison by now which is just wrong.

Sadly, Wynn struck at the right time. The Hearins housekeeper left at 3 p.m., and Robert returned at 4:30, so that left a relatively narrow window for him to strike as there were other people in the house at all other hours of the day.

On the day of the abduction, Annie hosted her bi-weekly bridge club at 10:15 a.m. The last of her friends left the house at 2:30 and as you said, the family maid left at 3:00. Robert returned home at 4:30. Like you said, that's a narrow period of time, the only time she would be alone in the house all day. So the abductor (Wynn?) had to have known her routine somewhat and wait for everyone else to leave the house.

Speaking of the house, here's an updated photo of it from Google maps...

http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad64/andy80_bucket/Annie1_zpsc5f23b91.jpg

Snooping around the area, there are no homes across the street from the Hearin house, just what looks like a forest of trees. And all the properties on that street are so huge that the homes are separated from each other quite a distance. All the property lines have huge chunks of trees that hide neighbors from each other. So sadly, an abduction like this can be pulled off without your neighbors seeing anything. Not unless they were standing directly in front of the house.

I often wonder how he even entered the house. Maybe he knocked on the front door and when she answered, he simply struck her right then and there. As long as no cars were driving by, he could have easily done that. A smudge of blood was found on the front door and separate pools of blood were on the carpet near the front door. The FBI said the height of the marks indicated that Annie may have been struck on the head. He drops the letter, carries Annie to his van/vehicle, and simply drives away. Scary to think how quick and easy that was.

I often wonder how he even entered the house. Maybe he knocked on the front door and when she answered, he simply struck her right then and there. As long as no cars were driving by, he could have easily done that. A smudge of blood was found on the front door and separate pools of blood were on the carpet near the front door. The FBI said the height of the marks indicated that Annie may have been struck on the head. He drops the letter, carries Annie to his van/vehicle, and simply drives away. Scary to think how quick and easy that was.

I think you could be right about how he got into the house. Back then, people were more likely to open their doors to a knock/bell without checking who was at the door first.

Also, if this was around the time that her friends and housekeeper had left, she could have assumed a knock at the door was from someone who'd recently left but discovered they'd forgotten something and came back to the house to get it.

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, but Newton Alfred Winn, Annie's abductor/killer, died in August 2012. Was able to pull some of the obituary:

N. 'Al' Alfred Winn, 88, recently of Gulf Hammock, died peacefully of natural causes at the Veteran's Hospital in Gainesville this week. Al served in the Army in World War II, graduated from the University of Florida with a law degree and practiced law as a sole practitioner in St. Petersburg for many years.

He is survived by his children, Peter, Lissa, Minda and Mark; and seven grandchildren.

How nice that he was able to die PEACEFULLY, and that his criminal history wasn't mentioned in his obituary. :angryfire

N. 'Al' Alfred Winn, 88, recently of Gulf Hammock, died peacefully of natural causes at the Veteran's Hospital in Gainesville this week. Al served in the Army in World War II, graduated from the University of Florida with a law degree and practiced law as a sole practitioner in St. Petersburg for many years. .

Ew.

That's just infuriating. That poor woman. I totally understand why Winn never revealed her location, but still. Give the damn family some closure.

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, but Newton Alfred Winn, Annie's abductor/killer, died in August 2012. Was able to pull some of the obituary:

N. 'Al' Alfred Winn, 88, recently of Gulf Hammock, died peacefully of natural causes at the Veteran's Hospital in Gainesville this week. Al served in the Army in World War II, graduated from the University of Florida with a law degree and practiced law as a sole practitioner in St. Petersburg for many years.

He is survived by his children, Peter, Lissa, Minda and Mark; and seven grandchildren.

Saw this case again, searched the board to find a thread and saw this - simply infuriating! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Ew.

That's just infuriating. That poor woman. I totally understand why Winn never revealed her location, but still. Give the damn family some closure.

Sounds like he was completely committed to playing the victim card and claim to be innocent despite the endless intricate steps he took in order to get the ransom money. Like you said, it's obvious why he never revealed the location of the body. But nobody outside of his family ever believed he was innocent.

http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/35976670/3-on-your-side-investigates-cold-case-mystery-the-disappearance-of-annie-laurie-hearin

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, but Newton Alfred Winn, Annie's abductor/killer, died in August 2012. Was able to pull some of the obituary:

N. 'Al' Alfred Winn, 88, recently of Gulf Hammock, died peacefully of natural causes at the Veteran's Hospital in Gainesville this week. Al served in the Army in World War II, graduated from the University of Florida with a law degree and practiced law as a sole practitioner in St. Petersburg for many years.

He is survived by his children, Peter, Lissa, Minda and Mark; and seven grandchildren.

Yeah, I found this, too. I couldn't believe that it was him. I had to check multiple places to make sure it was the same piece of s***. Unbelievable. I understand, if the family wrote it, not really wanting to get into the whole "oh, by the way, he kidnapped and murdered a woman, this one time, trying to extort money from someone," story...but good God that's infuriating. :mad:

One thing I never understood about this case: What was the point of Winn listing the 11 other people in the ransom note? I can see how it may deflect guilt, but didn't he consider the possibility that many if not all listed in the note would return their check and he would have to do the same to avoid being implicated? If I recall correctly at least half did return their check. Did anyone else listed have knowledge of his plans?

One thing I never understood about this case: What was the point of Winn listing the 11 other people in the ransom note? I can see how it may deflect guilt, but didn't he consider the possibility that many if not all listed in the note would return their check and he would have to do the same to avoid being implicated? If I recall correctly at least half did return their check. Did anyone else listed have knowledge of his plans?

Welcome to the board! :wave:

First of all, it wasn't a very well thought out plan. I think the idea was, as you said, list all the people and then there would be enough deflection that it would be hard to narrow in on one suspect. This guy was obviously very upset and I think that contributed to this bizarre, dumb plan. I honestly don't think he counted on so many people returning the checks. I think he felt robbed and probably figured everyone else did too.

Had it not been for the letter he had someone else drop off, he might have gotten away with this. He was obviously not a very bright criminal mind.

It still infuriates me that in his obituary he was made to sound like a really great guy. What he did to that poor woman and that family is unforgivable, and I don't think he or his family ever took responsibility for it. :mad:

Welcome to the board! :wave:

First of all, it wasn't a very well thought out plan. I think the idea was, as you said, list all the people and then there would be enough deflection that it would be hard to narrow in on one suspect. This guy was obviously very upset and I think that contributed to this bizarre, dumb plan. I honestly don't think he counted on so many people returning the checks. I think he felt robbed and probably figured everyone else did too.

Had it not been for the letter he had someone else drop off, he might have gotten away with this. He was obviously not a very bright criminal mind.

It still infuriates me that in his obituary he was made to sound like a really great guy. What he did to that poor woman and that family is unforgivable, and I don't think he or his family ever took responsibility for it. :mad:

I agree. I don't think he ever should have been released, or at the very least there should have been a requirement that he reveal where he put the body so her family could have at least some answers (though I don't believe he deserved freedom at all). This case really sickens me. 30+ years and her family just knows she's gone but can't even lay her to rest. Meanwhile this person gets to be released and live out the rest of his life as though he didn't cause great pain to Annie Laurie and her family.

Welcome to the board! :wave:

First of all, it wasn't a very well thought out plan. I think the idea was, as you said, list all the people and then there would be enough deflection that it would be hard to narrow in on one suspect. This guy was obviously very upset and I think that contributed to this bizarre, dumb plan. I honestly don't think he counted on so many people returning the checks. I think he felt robbed and probably figured everyone else did too.

Had it not been for the letter he had someone else drop off, he might have gotten away with this. He was obviously not a very bright criminal mind.

It still infuriates me that in his obituary he was made to sound like a really great guy. What he did to that poor woman and that family is unforgivable, and I don't think he or his family ever took responsibility for it. :mad:

Thank you for the warm welcome Todd! :)

And I think you're probably right. I'm looking for logic where there isn't any. It's sickening that he was able to walk free without accepting any responsibility. At least he could have left a letter or some sort of instruction to be opened after his death detailing what happened and where her remains were located if recoverable. But obviously that would require far more compassion than he was capable of.

This man didn’t deserve a good obituary after what he did. I just have a bad feeling that she suffered and then died. My guess is starvation or he buried her alive. That’s my fear because the case motive supposedly was ransom and usually they hold the victim, which is why I fear those two things. Obviously she’s dead now, my guess is one of those two ways though I won’t rule out him killing her right away or her suffering a medical issue while kidnapped and died. The fact he never revealed where she was just shows how great a man he was (which isn’t great)

While on his death bed, he should’ve at least give the family some closure, let them know where her body is. You already served your time, plus got to spend four more years free with your grandchildren too. What I’m trying to figure out is, when he kidnapped her, did he drive that van all the way back to Florida? I read somewhere that his law office was his home too. If his paralegal guy and ex girlfriend lied for him already, they might be holding back other things they know/knew too

Does anyone happen to know what ever became of the money Mr. Hearin did pay to the people in the letters? My memory is super fuzzy on this case but I cant remember if it was ever disclosed if those people got to keep that money or if it was seized by LE and returned to the Hearins.

Does anyone happen to know what ever became of the money Mr. Hearin did pay to the people in the letters? My memory is super fuzzy on this case but I cant remember if it was ever disclosed if those people got to keep that money or if it was seized by LE and returned to the Hearins.

Yes, all 10 people on that list received their money, around $100,000 apiece. But he was the only one to give the money back the very next day, with his lawyer by his side. I google about the case and read an article online about it. Maybe that made him more suspicious by being the only one on the list who gave the ransom money back.

Yes, all 10 people on that list received their money, around $100,000 apiece. But he was the only one to give the money back the very next day, with his lawyer by his side. I google about the case and read an article online about it. Maybe that made him more suspicious by being the only one on the list who gave the ransom money back.

That seems super weird that these people were allowed to keep the money. Although I'm not quite sure what LE could have done otherwise.

That seems super weird that these people were allowed to keep the money. Although I'm not quite sure what LE could have done otherwise.

I’m guessing at the time, they were hoping to do exactly what the ransom note said, to get her back, since they knew it was her own handwriting, and figured she was still alive. But of course after a year when they figured out Winn was involved, how do take back, $100,000 already given to those people? I’m sure most already spent or invested their money. That photograph company Herin was the President of, was the one my school used when I was in elementary school too. I looked at my old pictures, same company in the late 1980’s. That was weird when I found out.