Post by Graveyardbride on Jun 10, 2015 7:20:37 GMT -5
Sliger, Stacy and Vickers
Murdered and Missing in Hawkins County
It’s been more than two weeks since 79-year-old Margaret Sliger, a retired schoolteacher, was found murdered outside her home in Mooresburg, Tenn., and the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office is still searching for a suspect. On Monday, May 18, shortly before 11 p.m., the HCSO responded to a complaint of an unattended death at Sliger’s home located at 352 Isenburg Lane. Upon arrival, officers found the woman dead from “multiple injuries.” Investigators still do not know the exact nature of all her injuries. The body was sent to the Quillen College of Medicine Forensics Center in Johnson City for an autopsy which is not yet complete.
According to reports nothing was missing from Sliger’s residence and robbery didn’t appear to be the motive. “We’re still following up leads that are coming in daily,” Sheriff Ronnie Lawson told the Times-News. “We’re just waiting for a break in the case that will help us solve it. We’re following every lead and every rumor.” Sliger’s death brings Hawkins County’s number of unsolved murders and/or suspicious disappearances up to seven dating back almost 30 years. Six of those are being investigated by the sheriff’s office and the other by the Rogersville Police Department.
The phrase “cold case” entered American lexicon thanks in part to Cold Case, the 2003 TV show featuring Detective Lilly Rush of the Philadelphia police department. But according to Lawson, “cold case” is not a phrase used in his department. “I don’t consider any case that we have being cold,” he explained. “They’re still active and ongoing until they’re closed. That’s just part of an investigation. There may be a span where there’s nothing going on. Then there may be something to pop up that we need to go check on, so I don’t consider them cold cases. We’ve still got victims and family members, so it’s an active case until it’s closed.”
Following is the list of Hawkins County’s pending unsolved murders and disappearances in which foul play is suspected:
On August 5, 2013, Regilla Ann Stacy, 48, was found in her rural home at 424 Mountain View School Road, dead of wounds to the head. Her, ex-husband, a convicted drug-trafficker, who still shared the residence, was meeting with his parole officer in Greeneville at the time of the incident. The ex reportedly arrived shortly after 1 p.m. that day and found his former wife lying unresponsive on the kitchen floor. The woman was so badly beaten about the head that investigators did not know until later that she had been shot. There was physical evidence outside the home indicating gunshots were fired. Investigators believe Stacy knew her killer or killers and the motive is believed to have been burglary and/or theft. Lawson said his detectives were checking out new information on this case as recently as three weeks ago.
Larry Vickers, 49, was a Rogersville car dealership owner who was shot to death March 31, 2006, at a car wash he owned on Main Street at the far east end of Rogersville. His body, with gunshot wounds to the head and torso, was discovered around 8:40 a.m. locked in his Dodge Ram pickup. Vickers had apparently been at the car wash the night before repairing a broken light and possibly checking a malfunction in the cash box at the entrance to the car wash. The upward trajectory of the bullet’s path, as well as blood drops inside the car wash bay, led investigators to theorize that Vickers may have been standing on a ladder changing a light when he was shot by someone standing on the ground. A semiautomatic pistol was found in the Hawkins County Schools bus garage property adjacent to the car wash, where it had apparently been tossed over a security fence. One spent shell was jammed in the pistol and a live round was stuck in the gun. The pistol had no serial number and wasn’t known to belong to Vickers. The pistol’s magazine had been dropped into a drainage grate inside the car wash bay.
Oddly, although Vickers was inside his pickup, his clothing was wet. Several witnesses told police they’d spoken to Vickers on his cell phone around 11 p.m. the night before he was killed, but his cell phone was missing. Also, one of the receipts in the cash box indicated 10:54 p.m.
Blizzard, Rogers, Trent and Patterson
David Wayne Blizzard, 33, a Surgoinsville resident, disappeared September 30, 2005. On October 10, Blizzard’s mother reported she had not seen her son since he visited her residence on that date. Blizzard was involved in a domestic dispute at a family member’s home on the 2800 block of Main Street and police were called. Afterwards, a Hawkins County deputy transported him to Walmart on Stone Drive in Kingsport and he hasn’t been seen since. Few details are available in his case, but foul play is suspected.
Nadine Rogers, 33, of Church Hill, was last seen February 1, 2002. Three days later, her mother reported that on that date, Nadine’s boyfriend, Robert Wayne Malder, had gone to a friend’s house in Kingsport to drop off her daughter’s children. Nadine was scheduled to work at Cheddar’s Restaurant in Kingsport the following day, but did not show up. Police discovered Rogers had cashed her income tax refund check shortly before her disappearance. Malder was questioned extensively about the woman’s disappearance and was later convicted in an unrelated murder and robbery, however, he has never admitted to being involved in the disappearance of Nadine Rogers.
On February 28, 1997, Larry Trent, 47, of Mooresburg, was visited by his sister, but when she returned the following day, Trent was nowhere to be found. Wherever he went, Trent, who is unable to walk unassisted and suffers from a heart condition and diabetes, left his vehicle, medication and other personal items behind and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
On July 16, 1986, Kenneth “Brent” Patterson, 28, who lived in the Goshen Valley community south of Church Hill, disappeared. That morning, sheriff’s deputies responded to an accident on Goshen Valley Road, just south of the Holston River bridge. A vehicle, which was registered to Patterson, was discovered abandoned in a field after apparently running off the road, hitting a ditch, rolling over and coming to rest right-side-up. There were tire tracks in the field indicating someone had continued to drive the vehicle following the accident in an attempt to leave the scene, but it became entangled in a fence. There was no blood in or near the vehicle. Several potential suspects were questioned. Some were cleared, one died and one is currently serving time in federal prison on drug and weapons convictions.
Sources: Jeff Bobo, The Kingsport Times-News, June 2, 2015; Missing and Murdered in Tennessee; and The Charley Project.
