FBI adds to reward in Lake Oconee cold case murders

The FBI is adding $20 thousand to the reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case of Russell and Shirley Dermond, the elderly couple killed a decade ago in Putnam County. The Sheriff’s Office in Eatonton says new DNA evidence has been found that could help solve the murders that happened ten years ago on Lake Oconee.

From WSB TV…

It has been a mystery for the last 10 years and now the FBI is hoping that adding to the reward in the killings of Russell and Shirley Dermond will finally lead to information as to who killed them.

Neighbors found Russell’s decapitated body inside his Putnam County garage behind one of the couple’s cars, with the 88-year-old’s head nowhere to be found.

Shirley Dermond’s body was found in Lake Oconee after someone apparently tried to weigh it down. The sheriff said she died of blunt force trauma.

“It must have just been a moment of horror, and probably a very long moment of horror, unfortunately. And so, we know that Mom and Dad want us...” the Dermond’s son, Brad Dermond said, choking up.

“To keep going and move forward,” his wife Erin said, finishing the thought.

“From the moment that we were notified of this, we were in total horror,” Brad Dermond said.

$20,000 to the reward for information that leads to an arrest in the case. That brings the full amount for the reward in this case to $25,000.

Just last week, Channel 2 Action News reported that new DNA evidence had surfaced in the investigation.

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne that he ordered more testing to be done but the new evidence is the most promising lead in the case in the last decade.

“We’re still just totally in the dark as to why this took place,” Brad Dermond said.

Brad Demond said the new evidence is giving him a sliver of hope that his parents’ killer will be found.

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