A grim decade-old double homicide mystery might be a step closer to resolution with a combined $25,000 reward announced for information leading to an arrest and conviction. The FBI, alongside the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, are upping the ante after new DNA evidence surfaced in the gruesome murder case of Russell and Shirley Dermond.
The elderly couple met a brutal end back in May 2014, with Russell Dermond's decapitated body discovered in the garage of their lakefront home, and Shirley Dermond's body found weighed down in Lake Oconee 10 days later. The FBI is now offering $20,000, while local authorities have pitched in an additional $5,000, as reported by 11Alive.
Last week's revelation of foreign DNA on evidence collected from the crime scene may finally guide law enforcement to the couple's killer or killers. According to a FOX 5 Atlanta interview, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills spoke of DNA found on clothing at the crime scenes that didn't belong to the Dermonds. Nationwide labs in Texas and Utah worked to uncover this potential lead, although there's still work to be done to ensure the DNA is not contamination from other sources involved in the investigation over the years.
The mysterious case has kept the tight-knit community on edge for nearly a decade, with Putnam County residents hoping for closure. With the newfound DNA evidence and heightened reward offer, authorities aim to renew public interest in the case and encourage anyone with information to step forward. “Whoever did this committed two very brutal crimes," Sills told FOX 5, underlying the cruelty of the acts.
