Georgia police have determined that a man found decapitated inside his $1 million home last week was not a mob hit.
The body of Russell Dermond, 88, was found in his Putnam County lakefront home on May 6, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported. His wife, 87-year-old Shirley Dermond, is also missing and her husband's head was never recovered. Since then the case has been surrounded by rumors, including mob involvement, which police say are entirely inaccurate.
"No, the man wasn't in witness protection," Putnam Sheriff Howard Sills told The Atlanta-Journal Constitution. "He wasn't going to testify. There's no evidence of any kind of torture."
Investigators believe the victim was killed before his head was severed. But police are no step closer to figuring out who is responsible for Russell Dermond's death or his wife's disappearance.
"I'm running down one thing after another and coming up empty," Sills told the newspaper.
Another rumor claimed Shirley Dermond walked into a hospital in Florida and that she was in a daze. That report turned out to be false. Investigators say she could have been kidnapped, but odds are she is not alive WSB-TV reported.
"I'm not optimistic given the fact of her husband's circumstances," Sills told the station. "We still approach this as if she's been abducted and we pray that she is alive but we don't know anything about where Mrs. Dermond is."
A submarine robot from the Department of Natural Resources was used on Tuesday to search the waters of Lake Oconee right outside their home on Reynolds Plantation. So far the submarine has only found a ladder and pieces of wood. Police are also searching a nearby wooded area, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.
Sills has obtained the wife's dental records just in case they are needed for identification purposes.
The FBI is offering a $20,000 reward for information as to Shirley Dermond's whereabouts.
