However, Ron Hyer, the one and only Mayor from good old Magnolia Springs Alabama, and I discussed it briefly online about this time last year so here goes.
There has been a drug ring operating in this area since the end of the Vietnam war, a lot of people have been arrested, a lot of money has changed hands, a lot of high ranking public officials have been involved, several people have died and a lot of heartaches and sorrow have been experienced by some who got caught up in it. I won't mention names, that might not be very smart, but here is one story that involved a friend, his family and the disappearance of his son who I'll call Joe.
Joe was a nice looking young man who got involved with drugs and the people who were bringing them in and selling them. He disappeared in the early 1990's and hasn't been seen since. He mother and father spent every cent they made, and could borrow, trying to find him. Or at least find out what happened to him. The law made what appeared to be a token effort to find out what happened but wound up telling his father that Joe most likely just left the state. Joe's father hired private detectives and found out a lot about how the drugs were being brought in and who was involved but nothing about his son. He paid one of the guys involved two thousand dollars to put a tape recorder under a table and talk to one of the guys he suspected was involved in his son's disappearance. The tape recorder was taped to the table with duct tape and the table amplified the noise the recorder motor made so the resulting tape had a lot of noise. Only bits and pieces of it could be heard and he brought it to me to see if I could clean some of the noise up. I was mostly unsuccessful but did clear enough to hear the guy say he knew what happened to Joe but was afraid to talk about it because what happened to Joe had happened before and if he said too much it would happen to him.
The strain on Joe's parents resulted in a divorce but they still worked together in trying to find out what happened. Eventually, and for a large sum of money, around 1998 or 99 one of the people involved told Joe's father that Joe was dead, that he had been beaten to death and thrown in a hole, and told him the names of the two people who did it. At that time the two people he named were in prison for parole violation for carrying firearms but are out now, or were a couple of years ago. The guy told him he wouldn't testify to anything he said, but that it was the truth. Since then a half dozen people have been killed or died under suspicious circumstances, including a lawyer that was allegedly involved in the drug ring, the son of a judge that was suspected of being involved and a witness to the killing of the judge's son. The posts below from the archives of the Findmall Tesoro Forum tell the rest, nothing else has been resolved. At the time of the posts I wasn't certain Ron and I were talking about the same case but found out a short time later we were.
<b>Hey Ron </b>
Posted by: JB(MS)
January 28, 2005 03:41PM
In the years you were offline I had forgotten how enjoyable your unique brand of BS really was. I for one am happy to see you online again. By the way, when you were involved with the GPR thing a few years ago I directed a couple of folks who thought they needed that kind of service your way. Are you still involved with that or do you now devote most of your time to stirring up the forums?
JB
<b>JB..was it you that sent those detectives? </b>
Posted by: The Mayor
January 28, 2005 06:46PM
JB...I did a job for a couple of detectives up in North Mississippi a few years back. We were looking for a boys body that had been thrown down a well. Was that you that sent those detectives to me? That was one of the most interesting jobs I have done. We did it as a freebie for the family with them just paying the expenses. As several local prominent people were involved in the murder and disposal of the body we had to stay in another town. We would try to keep as low a profile as possible while we were there. Real cloak and dagger kinda stuff. We actually located the well that the body was in...but the land owner...who was a suspect...dug a huge lake right where we marked the well...before they could get an order to excavate. The boys mother just wanted to bury her son...I felt so bad for her after it was all over. Those detectives had donated their time for years trying to help that family out. They were not discouraged and were still going to work the case.Thanks JB for sending me whoever you did. Send some more...I like doing the radar work.
The Mayor
<b>Re: JB..was it you that sent those detectives?</b>
Posted by: JB(MS)
January 28, 2005 07:57PM
Wouldn't swear that's the same case but I would bet it was. A young man had been killed, at least he had disappeared and his parents thought he had been. Since that's the only case like that I'm aware of in north MS during that time that almost certainly was the one. I know they had a lot of problems with the law enforcement folks about the case and spent a lot of money on private detectives, they even contacted the America's Most Wanted tv show people. They came down to see about filming a show about it but the sheriff headed that off. You're right about the prominent people. Several elected officials, at least two lawyers and more than one judge were/are "alleged" to be involved. The other was an old lost cemetery, or at least some of the grave locations had been lost. The cemetery was somewhere in Alabama, forget exactly where they said it was but I want to think it was in the southern part of the state. A friend who lives over there told whoever it was looking for the cemetery to call me as I had metal detectors and might find what they were looking for. I gave them your name and number, never knew if they contacted you or not.
JB
<b>JB..Thank You for getting me involved in that search</b>.
Posted by: The Mayor
January 28, 2005 08:36PM
JB...Please accept my sincere thanks for sending those guys to me. That was one of lifes great adventures. They did tell me that the Sheriff of the town was involved. I really got to like those two guys. It really gave me insight into how a detective works. I don't think I ever made a dime on it...but I would go back again this weekend if they called. That was a handsome young man that had been missing for a very long time. I know I found him but the rest is history now. I can only hope that family will get their answer one day. They did find the carpet he was murdered on and the crowbar used to kill him in a well in the front yard. We know we found an older well in the backyard. That well was gone when we got back up there for the second trip. The site had been excavated down to a depth of about twenty feet deep.I have done a ton of cemetery work. I was doing jobs for The Sons of Confederate Veterans for several years. We located at least five hundred lost graves of Confederate soldiers during that time. We were featured on news stories across the nation at that time. I also did all that work for free. Gotta at least find some work that pays for the gas.I have radared lots of family cemeteries. The oldest graves I have located in this country were early Spanish graves in Florida.We went to England at one point with a film crew and located a 2000 year old Viking that was buried with all of his silver possesions. The guys who brought us over got $250.000.00 U.S. for the silver they found.We got a free trip to England. I could go on all night...Sorry for getting so windy...thanks again JB.
The Mayor
There has been a drug ring operating in this area since the end of the Vietnam war, a lot of people have been arrested, a lot of money has changed hands, a lot of high ranking public officials have been involved, several people have died and a lot of heartaches and sorrow have been experienced by some who got caught up in it. I won't mention names, that might not be very smart, but here is one story that involved a friend, his family and the disappearance of his son who I'll call Joe.
Joe was a nice looking young man who got involved with drugs and the people who were bringing them in and selling them. He disappeared in the early 1990's and hasn't been seen since. He mother and father spent every cent they made, and could borrow, trying to find him. Or at least find out what happened to him. The law made what appeared to be a token effort to find out what happened but wound up telling his father that Joe most likely just left the state. Joe's father hired private detectives and found out a lot about how the drugs were being brought in and who was involved but nothing about his son. He paid one of the guys involved two thousand dollars to put a tape recorder under a table and talk to one of the guys he suspected was involved in his son's disappearance. The tape recorder was taped to the table with duct tape and the table amplified the noise the recorder motor made so the resulting tape had a lot of noise. Only bits and pieces of it could be heard and he brought it to me to see if I could clean some of the noise up. I was mostly unsuccessful but did clear enough to hear the guy say he knew what happened to Joe but was afraid to talk about it because what happened to Joe had happened before and if he said too much it would happen to him.
The strain on Joe's parents resulted in a divorce but they still worked together in trying to find out what happened. Eventually, and for a large sum of money, around 1998 or 99 one of the people involved told Joe's father that Joe was dead, that he had been beaten to death and thrown in a hole, and told him the names of the two people who did it. At that time the two people he named were in prison for parole violation for carrying firearms but are out now, or were a couple of years ago. The guy told him he wouldn't testify to anything he said, but that it was the truth. Since then a half dozen people have been killed or died under suspicious circumstances, including a lawyer that was allegedly involved in the drug ring, the son of a judge that was suspected of being involved and a witness to the killing of the judge's son. The posts below from the archives of the Findmall Tesoro Forum tell the rest, nothing else has been resolved. At the time of the posts I wasn't certain Ron and I were talking about the same case but found out a short time later we were.
<b>Hey Ron </b>
Posted by: JB(MS)
January 28, 2005 03:41PM
In the years you were offline I had forgotten how enjoyable your unique brand of BS really was. I for one am happy to see you online again. By the way, when you were involved with the GPR thing a few years ago I directed a couple of folks who thought they needed that kind of service your way. Are you still involved with that or do you now devote most of your time to stirring up the forums?
JB
<b>JB..was it you that sent those detectives? </b>
Posted by: The Mayor
January 28, 2005 06:46PM
JB...I did a job for a couple of detectives up in North Mississippi a few years back. We were looking for a boys body that had been thrown down a well. Was that you that sent those detectives to me? That was one of the most interesting jobs I have done. We did it as a freebie for the family with them just paying the expenses. As several local prominent people were involved in the murder and disposal of the body we had to stay in another town. We would try to keep as low a profile as possible while we were there. Real cloak and dagger kinda stuff. We actually located the well that the body was in...but the land owner...who was a suspect...dug a huge lake right where we marked the well...before they could get an order to excavate. The boys mother just wanted to bury her son...I felt so bad for her after it was all over. Those detectives had donated their time for years trying to help that family out. They were not discouraged and were still going to work the case.Thanks JB for sending me whoever you did. Send some more...I like doing the radar work.
The Mayor
<b>Re: JB..was it you that sent those detectives?</b>
Posted by: JB(MS)
January 28, 2005 07:57PM
Wouldn't swear that's the same case but I would bet it was. A young man had been killed, at least he had disappeared and his parents thought he had been. Since that's the only case like that I'm aware of in north MS during that time that almost certainly was the one. I know they had a lot of problems with the law enforcement folks about the case and spent a lot of money on private detectives, they even contacted the America's Most Wanted tv show people. They came down to see about filming a show about it but the sheriff headed that off. You're right about the prominent people. Several elected officials, at least two lawyers and more than one judge were/are "alleged" to be involved. The other was an old lost cemetery, or at least some of the grave locations had been lost. The cemetery was somewhere in Alabama, forget exactly where they said it was but I want to think it was in the southern part of the state. A friend who lives over there told whoever it was looking for the cemetery to call me as I had metal detectors and might find what they were looking for. I gave them your name and number, never knew if they contacted you or not.
JB
<b>JB..Thank You for getting me involved in that search</b>.
Posted by: The Mayor
January 28, 2005 08:36PM
JB...Please accept my sincere thanks for sending those guys to me. That was one of lifes great adventures. They did tell me that the Sheriff of the town was involved. I really got to like those two guys. It really gave me insight into how a detective works. I don't think I ever made a dime on it...but I would go back again this weekend if they called. That was a handsome young man that had been missing for a very long time. I know I found him but the rest is history now. I can only hope that family will get their answer one day. They did find the carpet he was murdered on and the crowbar used to kill him in a well in the front yard. We know we found an older well in the backyard. That well was gone when we got back up there for the second trip. The site had been excavated down to a depth of about twenty feet deep.I have done a ton of cemetery work. I was doing jobs for The Sons of Confederate Veterans for several years. We located at least five hundred lost graves of Confederate soldiers during that time. We were featured on news stories across the nation at that time. I also did all that work for free. Gotta at least find some work that pays for the gas.I have radared lots of family cemeteries. The oldest graves I have located in this country were early Spanish graves in Florida.We went to England at one point with a film crew and located a 2000 year old Viking that was buried with all of his silver possesions. The guys who brought us over got $250.000.00 U.S. for the silver they found.We got a free trip to England. I could go on all night...Sorry for getting so windy...thanks again JB.
The Mayor
. He started Search Scan Electronics in the early 90's and made three detector models, the Search Scan 650, 450 and Leprechaun. He also made a great set of headphones, the Optifones. I believe he sold Search Scan to Jim Pugh and Jim turned it into Anchor Electronics and started making the Barracuda pulse detectors. Ron lost his house in one of the hurricanes last year and hasn't been online since that I know of. The "Mayor" is a nice guy, hopefully everything is going well for him.