ATLANTA (AP) – A Georgia couple was missing Monday, days after they left suburban Atlanta to drive south across the state, seeking a classic car they posted about on Craigslist.
The man who last had phone contact with Elrey “Bud” Runion, 69, and his wife, June Runion, 66, turned himself in Monday to faces charges of giving false statements and criminal attempt to commit theft by deception. He hasn’t been accused of harming the couple.
Bud Runion, from Marietta, had posted an ad on the website Craigslist seeking a 1966 Mustang. On Thursday, he and his wife drove to McRae, nearly three hours away in South Georgia, to meet someone who responded to the ad, authorities said.
The Runions’ daughters became worried when their parents didn’t show up Friday to babysit their grandchildren, they told WSB-TV (http://bit.ly/1C7Y6SV). The couple had their cellphones and chargers when they left, but no one has heard from them since 3:30 p.m. Thursday, the daughters said.
In South Georgia, authorities interviewed Towns, and information he provided didn’t match what investigators already knew, Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson told WMAZ-TV in Macon (on.wmaz.com/15zHjtJ).
“We are worried that someone might have done something bad and taken advantage of them,” daughter Brittany Patterson told the television station.
“If someone has taken them, we have forgiven that person, because God tells us to love and forgive,” daughter Virginia Owens said.