We're coming up on the 8th anniversary of an unsolved double murder, and it's sad, but very little is being said about it. Some of us, people who knew one or both of the 17 year old girls, are still asking questions. For instance, WHY did Ozark PD freeze the reward process at $40,000 or so???? And who else but someone trained in or familiar with crime scene techniques could have so completely cleaned the car and the bodies???? What will it take to get these and other questions answered, and bring about an arrest and (this time) a conviction????

Veritas, JB and Tracie have not been forgotten neither has Angela Spellman. People do remember them, speak of them, ask the police about their cases.... JB and Tracie are posted about often here while posting about Angela was censored on the old forum and we aren't sure if the new forum will censore us for posting about her too. To be fair about the censorhip I must add that some of Angeal's family posted here before she went missing and after she went missing other members of Angela's family joined us. They spoke of their concerns and answered our questions while we all did what we could to help find Angela which was pray, for the most part. John Spellman and some of his family joined us here and John couldn't handle our questions and opinions very well but he did try. It was Angela's family that he had a difficult time dealing with here and he started attacking them and they attacked back and we stood by Angela's family and things got very hot and ugly.
The topic of Angela got censored. Exqsme, I love that woman, she kept us updated on Spellman and her posts got removed every time. We all remember Cindy too, Spellman's first victim.
Do a search of this forum under "tracie" and you will find that JB and Tracie are right here with us, as are Angela and Cindy.
Your questions regarding JB and Tracie and other questions have been answered here more than once.

Not sure where you got the info, Veritas, but those two young ladies bodies WERE NOT cleaned. They have been using evidence found on the bodies for testing etc. And they have definitely NOT been FORGOTTEN. Neither has Angela.....

stingray, i know they haven't been forgotten and it will be a great day for justice when the murderer(s) are brought to justice. i will also make sure to post when that episodes of haunting evidence dealing with jb and tracy airs- i believe it'll be in august.
and angela will recieve her justice- either in this world or the next.....

Flytrap, that is exactly what I'm saying. JB and I were friends, and I was one of her friends who fit that silly FBI profile, so they called me in for "questioning". I didn't have anything to hide, so I was happy to cooperate. Somewhere along the line, the chief of Police stopped the reward process at $40,000, or maybe 45. I forget exactly which, but it was incredibly low, and caused quite a bit of debate on this message board back in 2000. (By the way, I used the name Veritas back then, too) His excuse, and I repeat, was that he didn't want somebody holding back, waiting for the money to go up higher. AND VERY FEW PEOPLE FREAKED OUT ABOUT IT!!! Here is the problem. If someone comes forward and rats on the killer, this person and probably his (or her) family is going to have to relocate. They may not be able to go into the witness protection program. I HAVEN'T HEARD LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFER A POTENTIAL WITNESS THIS PROTECTION. It would take most people at least $100,000 to relocate and re-establish themselves. And even then, the internet makes it easy to find someone if they don't establish a complete new identity. That takes big money. Creating new identities for your immediate (and possibly extended) family would cost even more. If the people who killed JB and Tracie are who I think they are, they are extremely dangerous, and have dangerous friends. They are not people to be toyed with. (I know, bad grammar, but it gets the point across) (By the way, I don't buy for a SECOND this bravo sierra about the killer being a loner, middle aged, unmarried, unable or unwilling to establish long term relationships, etc.) See what I'm getting at? The Police chief shut down the reward process at a sum that would not permit a witness to escape the wrath of the killer(s) and their friends. And more than a few people are baffled by this decision. We simply can't understand WHY such a move would have been taken by the man who was supposedly looking for the guilty one(s). It is altogether too easy to point fingers, and I'm making an effort to avoid it now, but with all the questions that haven't been answered, I believe a picture is beginning to form. From the outside looking in, it seems as though Law Enforcement didn't want a potential witness to come forward. And my question is, WHY????

By the way, if it was in my power to do so, I'd make five moves. 1. Remove the freeze and advertise for donors, so the reward could go up. There are philanthropic organizations that offer up to $500,000 to help find witnesses. 2. Advertise complete immunity from prosecution and guaranteed witness protection for the witness and his / her family, even if this allows an accomplice to go free. 3. Offer the same for any person who may have asked / hired someone to do something to JB (frame her with illegal drugs / injure her so she couldn't dance / etc.) in return for detailed information about the situation that wasn't intended to be murder, but "went bad". 4. Have an independent testing agency compare the genetic markers from the DNA samples to the person from which they were collected, to see whether the DNA samples belonged to the person in question. (Substituting urine is an old trick used by kids to avoid drug testing, and it works, if strict guidelines aren't followed!) Finally, 5. Establish an intermediary, such as a well-known, trusted public defender / attorney, to which a potential witness could confide the details without becoming known to Police until the deal had been finalized. People who are distrustful of law enforcement might respond to such a situation. Granted, number 4 is probably the least likely to give results, but it's worth checking, in case DNA samples were switched in order to protect someone. If the PD were to take these steps, and nothing came forth, at least people like me could rest easy, knowing that every avenue had been honestly explored. Emphasis on honestly.

I thought I had seen your name on the first forum but I wasn't sure. I am following your line of thought much better now, thank you. I assure you that if you want to start a reward fund for the arrest and conviction of JB and Tracie's murders the state of Alabama nor all of the police chief's in this country could not stop you from doing so. The DNA of the politician's grandson did not match the DNA found on JB or Tracie.... There is DNA evidence but finding the person who matches the DNA is the problem. I am trusting that the DNA found is in the DNA database and I hope there will be a match found someday. Have you considered obtaining the DNA of the people you suspect and having it analyzed? It is costly and perfectly legal to do as long as the DNA was obtained legally.... Going through the garbage of whoever you suspect would be a legal means but you would have to pay for the DNA analysis yourself and then petition the state to check it with the DNA evidence. It would be easier to talk to the police and tell them what you know about whoever it is you suspect and see if there is cause to investigate further. A lot of people have theories and do not trust that state and local law enforcement are being objective and unbiased and believe it's because they are protecting a political figure. In small towns helping officials and leaders bury bad things and keeping some bigwig or a family member from justice is not uncommon.... I do believe that if JB or Tracie's family believes this to be the case then they would be the ones to get first rate national attention about it. I helped Angela's family get some large media connections.... They got a few phone calls from a few household news name and they declined to go public nationally. Would JB or Tracie's parents or siblings be willing to speak their minds nationally? If their families believe there is a cover up they are the only ones capable of getting this case looked at from other sources that have no bones to bury. I would not have a problem helping them make contact with the media if they feel that justice is being hindered by small town crooked politics. Feel free to email me if you know the immediate families would be willing to go public around the world with their belief's about JB and Tracie and a conspiracy. As for evidence.... DNA is all that would be needed and who opened the doorway to the convicting DNA is irrelevent and removes the needs for immunity.

Hey Venus! Thank you!

Hello everyone,

Here is a link to a chronology page of the news related to the case, from my old Ozark Alabama News website......

http://webpages.charter.net/pperaul...logy2.html

It may help refresh some aspects of the case.

Take care,

Pat

Has the reward process been unfrozen? Is the reward for information leading to the conviction of their killer(s) over $40,000? Sometime after the murders, I moved out of the area, so I haven't been able to keep up with the latest info, but to the best of my knowledge, nothing has changed...the reward is the same. SOMEBODY knows what happened that night. Perhaps, if the reward were higher, someone might be tempted by the big bucks...

Carolyn please do keep us posted as to when the haunting evidence show will air regarding JB and Tracie. I don't wach the show often but will when I happen to be in front of the TV when it's on. Friday I caught it on and they were doing Natalie Holloway. I missed it for the most part because I started talking to my husband about JB and Tracie being one of the shows and then we started talking about JB and Tracie, dazd photo, Spellman and Angela..... Before I knew it the show was about over. Veritas, rewards are determined by the amount of money donated for the reward. The state has a set amount but others can raise it by donating to it. I don't understand what you mean by the reward money being frozen and unfrozen. I am sure you could call and raise the reward amount by making a donation to the funds already there.

I got an email notification that somebody was confused about the "freeze / unfreeze" of the reward process, so I'll answer both questions here. First, the chief of Ozark PD froze the reward process at $40,000 or so, and his excuse was that "we don't want somebody sitting out there just waiting for the money to pile up before they come forward"....or something to that effect. To the best of my knowledge that freeze has never been lifted. What the hell???? That's the whole point of big rewards!!!! Somebody eventually comes forward!!! I was interrogated by the FBI for the better part of a day. It didn't take them long to figure out that they were barking up the wrong tree, but I have to give them credit. They tried. Ha!ha! During that ordeal, I think I learned more than they did. One thing, the FBI seemed to think that JB was shot outside the car, and picked up and placed in the trunk. Also, they seemed to think that the car was driven to the place where it was found by the killer(s). It's hard to imagine that untrained "good ole boys" could do all that and not leave behind ANYTHING. I've had 7+ years to reflect on everything that happened back then. I know of TWO people who had "issues" with JB. And while I know exactly where both of these people were that night, I don't discount the idea that they asked / hired someone to "do something" to JB that got out of hand. The original story told by you-know-who dovetails perfectly with that idea, by the way. It baffles me that the FBI, who can reconstruct crimes from 40 years ago and get convictions, can't find enough evidence to at least give the police a starting point, a general idea of what to look for. DNA evidence, if you reverse engineer the genetic pointers, can tell you some amazing things, just from a hair, or the saliva on a cigarette butt. As far as the bodies being "cleaned", I am convinced that "somebody" did an excellent job of removing evidence from the car and the bodies. Either that, or law enforcement suppressed the evidence to protect "one of their own". Part of my experience is in Hospitality. Motel management. And I've had to change many a room for a guest who wasn't happy with the condition of the room. I know from experience that it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE, even for a trained housekeeper, to get every hair, every fingerprint, every bit of dandruff. For that Mazda 929 to be so "clean" tells me that somebody knew what they were doing. Have you forgotten the sad story of the three boys who were accused of raping the stripper? How the prosecutor fiddled with the evidence, trying to get a conviction even though he knew the boys were innocent? It happens all the time, unfortunately. I admit that my distrust of law enforcement probably borders on paranoia. But, when you consider the freezing of the rewards process at a ridiculously low level, the refusal to consider "untouchable" suspects, and the mysterious lack of evidence, I wonder if perhaps my distrust isn't warranted in this case.

Veritas.... I still don't get it. If you want to offer 1.00 or 1 million dollars reward money for evidence leading to the conviction of whoever killed JB and Tracie the chief of police, the FBI, the president of the United States CANNOT freeze, control or stop the amount of money offered for a reward. Are you saying that OPD has declined any donations that would raise the amount of reward money? I am not able to understand..... Is the state offering 40,000.00 and no one, from the private sector, has contributed to the amount and the OPD told the state to stop raising the amount because they didn't want someone coming forward for the money? Do you think someone is out there waiting for the reward money to increase before coming forward? 40,000.00 is a lot of money. Do you think others are wanting to increase the reward money and OPD isn't allowing them to do so? If so how are they preventing this from happening? This is a serious misjustice if you want to offer something along the lines of reward money and the OPD is stopping you from doing so.

Thank you Pat for giving us the link,you know,you krpt us all informed of JB@Tracie...Miss your web page alot.Good to know you stop in here..

Hello Veritas, You werent Veritas back in 2000 were you? I remember you from what you have said here.. I do agree something isnt right..I have felt that way from the beginning...I know you will remember me..I dont know what happened to these two young ladies,but have always felt somethings just not right.I have always had a strange feeling that whoever the one,or ones that killed them,knew Ozark,all because of where they were found.I feel so bad for the parents of these young girls.. I dont believe that anyone will confess,but someone has to know something,and the one that they arrested in the beginning,well,its bothered me.I always thought he may have seen something.. I hope as we all do that something will come up for us to find the person,or persons that did this.This case is getting colder year by year..

Hi Pat and Namom!!! Good to see you both here! Pat thank you for posting the link to the info around JB and Tracie.

pat thanks for that link. i went through it and a lot of the stuff i'd forgotten. anyhow, the longer the crime goes unsolved the harder it will be to catch the killer.
i'm hoping that the haunting evidence will shed some light.

Yes ma'am, it is I. And I agree with you 100% that the original story as told by the one who was arrested bears more scrutiny. I'd be willing to bet a week's cash pay that the original story will eventually turn out to be the TRUTH, but something happened that scared the witness so badly that he backed away from his testimony. The person named in the original story as the actual killer had connections with law enforcement. Those of us who knew about those connections have always wondered if it played a role in the witness being accused of the murders. (That is, after all, the danger of coming forward when you're a witness to a horrible crime...you may wind up being accused of the crime, because of your knowledge of the details!!!)

Veritas,When the OPD arrested you know who,he had confessed sort of...wish we could see what all he said,anyway,deep down I dont think this person that was arrested was the killer,but I do believe he saw something,I do,until they prove me wrong I will believe that.I cant understand why he was arrested,by that I mean,you would think they had alot on him,then hes released.What was it he said that made the OPD arrest this man so fast,and then let him out just as fast?I believe he had knowledge,I do,he had something..I know that law inforcement will look at this,and think we are crazy,so be it,theres just something not right. Veritas,do you know how much the reward money is now?Or does any of the law inforcement that comes on here know?I have always wondered why JB and Tracie were in Ozark that horrible night. I truly know how these young girls parents feel,and its a sad thing that never goes away.The pain and hurt is there forever.You go on,but you never forget.My brother and sister-in-law lost their 15 yr old to murder,the killer was caught,he got life.It was their only child..

well, veritas you have my interest peaked. it really DOESN'T wash about the reward being frozen.
more than this------- many of us have a feeling that there is much more to this crime than meets the eye. living as close to the area where the bodies were found whoever used this as a "dump site" for the 2 beautiful girls knew Ozark well. that area would be mighty hard just to happen up on. its very dark there, too...... ok you guys if you remember i've bitched about that since this happened. how about a little LIGHT over there?----

there has just never seemed to be the level of interest in this case that the murder of 2 teen girls in a town this size demands.