Two charged in theft of missing Laurens County man’s truck

GRIFFIN – Spalding County sheriff’s deputies arrested two people accused of taking a Laurens County man’s truck, and having items in their home that belonged to him, almost two weeks after he went missing. 

Robert Earnest Peppers, 62, and Kelly Gail Osborn, 56, were charged with receiving stolen property belonging to Garland Sims Warren, an 82-year-old Laurens County man who has been missing since June 10. According to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received a Flock camera notification involving Warren’s black Toyota Tundra on June 21. About seven minutes later, a deputy found the truck parked at the back of the Dollar General Store located at 3430 Jackson Road.

“We are actively working this case, still gathering evidence, following up on leads, communicating with (Laurens County) Sheriff (Larry) Dean and his agency, and conducting interviews,” Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said. “My investigators are working in partnership with Sheriff Dean and his investigators. All have worked almost non-stop since the Flock alert. My uniform patrol deputies have even been out on foot day and night, searching and working in support of criminal investigators. Our focus is on finding Mr. Warren.”

Dix notified Dean, who along with investigators traveled to Spalding County to assist with a search and investigation. After that search, law enforcement expanded the area with the use of the Spalding sheriff’s department’s STAR helicopter, firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMTs/paramedics and search and rescue dogs in an organized search for Warren, which went all day and into the night.

Investigators from both sheriff’s offices began reviewing video and began going door-to-door talking with residents who may have seen Warren and asked for any possible footage of him from their home cameras. Investigators looked over hours of videos of vehicles that were in the area before, during and after notification from Flock. 

The investigation led law enforcement to Peppers and Osborn at their home late Saturday night. According to Dix, Peppers admitted to having been the person who drove Warren’s truck to the Dollar General, and Osborn told them that she followed Peppers and picked him up after dropping off the vehicle. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the residence and were able to find a road and location where Warren’s vehicle had been pulled from a ditch and driven away by Peppers. During a search of the area, a piece of mail belonging to Warren was found. A second search warrant on the couple’s home was issued Monday morning and items from Warren’s vehicle were recovered. 

Dix addressed questions about civilians helping with the search for Warren. He said this had led to deputies and investigators going on “a couple of wild goose chases by folks that mean well, but do not have the facts that we are using to conduct this investigation.” This moves their attention away from finding Warren and slows the investigation down, he said.

“Even if we search an area, we may have to return to it based on new information we receive as the investigation continues and new leads are developed,” Dix said. “Having people trample through these areas on foot, on ATVs, with dogs, horses and search areas on their own does not help. It can actually hinder our investigation and the gathering of pertinent evidence. If we need outside help, we have no problem reaching out to citizens and asking for help, as we did when the tornadoes came through Spalding County. 

“The people of Spalding County have no problem lending a hand, getting involved, working hard and helping out when asked. As of right now please hold off and let us do our jobs without interference or having to worry about any contamination.

“I have said many times before, when an investigation is being conducted we just can’t blurt out everything we know or do a minute-by-minute update,” he added. “Cases are often slow to develop, and other times information pours in. Bottom line is that we have to find Mr. Warren, protect the integrity of the search and investigation, and we will release information when and as we can.”

Anyone with information, video or leads is asked to call Lt. Jeff Smith or Sgt. A.J. Hammond at the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office at (770) 467-4282, the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office at (478) 272-1522 or the Spalding County 911 Center at (770) 229-9911.