Suspect Surrenders in Case of Missing Craigslist Car Couple
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aijohn784/iStock/Thinkstock(MARIETTA, Ga.) — A suspect has turned himself in to authorities investigating the disappearance of a Georgia couple, who vanished last week while going to meet someone to buy a vintage car they found on Craigslist.
Bud Runion, 69, and his wife, June, 66, disappeared Thursday, authorities said. The pair had posted an ad seeking to buy a vintage 1966 Ford Mustang convertible. Relatives said the Mustang was the couple’s dream car, one they’d wanted to buy since they were married decades ago.
Ronnie “Jay” Towns, 28, a suspect in the couple’s disappearance, has surrendered to authorities, Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson said. He had not been accused of harming the Runions.
The couple’s last call was to Towns, police have said.
The Runions, after finding what they believed was a seller, reportedly set out on a 180-mile road trip from Marietta, Georgia, to McRae, Georgia.
The couple hasn’t been heard from since, and never showed up to babysit their grandchildren on Friday. The Runions’ three daughters have grown increasingly worried by their parents’ disappearance.
“Whoever has them, we hope that they will let them come home to us,” daughter Stephanie Bishop said. “We miss them.”
The Runion family has set up a Facebook page — “Find Bud and June Runion” — and it has about 100,000 supporters, a growing group desperately searching for the couple.
“We are unbelievably grateful for all of the media support and to each of you for sharing the page. We ask that you please keep sharing the page and spreading the word so we can find Bud and June Runion,” the couple’s relatives wrote.
Officials with Craigslist referred to the safety page on the company’s website, which notes, “Be especially careful when buying/selling high value items.”
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