Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - BODY FOUND! Young Mom of 3 Vanishes, Case Moves From Missing Person to Homicide
Episode Date: September 9, 2023Olivia Fowler, 26, last seen near Manchester, Georgia, on August 13, 2021, at her boyfriend's home around 2 a.m. At 10:30 a.m. that same morning, a Department of Natural Resources ranger spots Fowler ...walking along Pebblebrook Road in Meriwether County. After that sighting, there has been no trace of Fowler. Now police say a body had been found and the case of a once missing mom turns into a homicide investigation. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Tamara McCoy - Victim's Aunt Natalie Khawam - Vanessa Guillen Family attorney, The Whistleblower Law Firm; WhistleblowerLF, Facebook: "Whistleblower Law Firm" Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist, CarynStark.com, Twitter: @carynpsych, Facebook: "Caryn Stark" Lisa M. Dadio - Former Police Lieutenant, New Haven Police Department; Annie Le Lead Detective; Senior Lecturer; Director of the Center for Advanced Policing and Graduate Program Coordinator, Investigations program, University of New Haven (West Haven, CT) Amanda Peralta - Reporter, WRBL News 3 (Columbus, Georgia), Twitter: @AmandaPeraltaTV John Elwood - Deputy Chief, Manatee County Search and Rescue; Twitter: @KarmatheSARdog; Principal Evaluator for the National Search Dog Alliance and Instructor/Evaluator for the National Association of Search and Rescue; 35 Years Sarasota County Fire Department See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
A gorgeous young 27-year-old mom last seen going for a walk along Pebble Brook Road in rural Meriwether County.
She was never seen again. In the last hours, a major break in the search for Olivia Samantha
Fowler. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thanks for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111.
In the last hours, we learned human remains have been confirmed to be that of 27-year-old mom, Olivia Samantha Fowler.
Take a listen to our friends at WXIA 11. The FBI, they just identified human remains as a 26-year-old mother who went missing from Metro Atlanta almost two years ago.
So we first told you about Olivia Fowler in August of 2021 when she went missing from Merriweather County.
According to the sheriff's office, they received a tip and located remains in a rural part of the county.
Well, this past December,
all this is when this took place. And just yesterday, authorities met with Olivia's family
to tell them about it. Now, the sheriff's office says that this case has now shifted from a missing
person's case to a death investigation. The family asking they be allowed to grieve
with this news and that we be supportive of them at this time. But who killed Olivia? A mother,
a daughter, a sister, a grandchild, her family, reeling. But how did the whole thing unfold?
Take a listen to Crime Online's John Limley. Authorities in Meriwether County, Georgia are asking for the public's help in locating a
missing woman. 26-year-old Olivia Fowler was last seen on August 13, 2021. She was spotted
leaving a residence near Long Road around 2 a.m. in the city of Manchester. Fowler was then seen again at 10.30 a.m. walking along Pebble Brook
Road in Merriweather County. Fowler was said to be wearing a tie-dye shirt, white cut-off shorts,
and black flip-flops. She's approximately 100 pounds and is 5 foot 2 inches tall.
This is a beautiful young mom, Lassie, wearing a tie-dye t-shirt, white shorts and flip-flops.
What happened?
How could she be there taking a walk?
And then now she's gone and nobody knows anything.
With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now.
You just heard about her going
missing. I want to go straight out to her aunt. This is Tamara McCoy. She is the creator of
Olivia's Army and you can find her on Twitter at Olivia's Army 26. Tamara, thank you for being with us. When did you first
learn that Olivia seemingly vanished? I was notified on August the 14th, about 3.30 in the
afternoon. Where were you when you got the call? I was actually working in Manchester. Where do you
work? I have my own business. I'm a residential cleaner. So you're at
your business. You're doing your business and you get a call from who? Her sister. And what were you
told? That Olivia was missing and nobody had seen or heard from her since Thursday. Okay just what
you don't want to hear. Now you are her aunt. What is your relation? Were you guys close? Did you speak frequently?
Do you know her children?
Yes, ma'am.
I actually had custody of Livia and Roxanne in their younger years.
And Livia and I, we've always been really close.
Kind of estranged a little when my mom passed away.
But we always kept a good connection.
And I did see her children I used to keep them for her when
she would just need a little break for a day or so and you know we were we were always close you
know that's some of my favorite memories of keeping my two little nephews I had already
you know graduated law school and was working and I would go back home to Macon Georgia and my
little nephews who lived in at that time Warner Robins Georgia would be at my mom's for the
weekend and she would take them just about every weekend and it wasn't like my brother and his
wife said oh please take the children we wanted to them. And so they would come spend the weekend and I would come home from where I was prosecuting in Atlanta and just spend the weekend. And I loved
it. And it builds a bond. It's like they're your child in a way. And, you know, so many years
past, I never thought I was going to have children. And I viewed those two boys as mine because I got to spend so much
time with them. So you would babysit for her and you actually helped raise Olivia. I heard you say
you had her for a while. Yes, ma'am. I had, um, I was there when Olivia was brought in this world.
I was there from day one. Um, first six months, she slept in the bed with me
and she was my baby. She's my baby. I'm just looking at her right now and she is gorgeous.
That is one. I mean, no victim in my mind is any prettier than another victim. But I've got to say, she's stunning.
Yes, ma'am.
Now, of course, another side to that, she's out walking,
and she's alone walking and suddenly goes missing.
With me is Olivia Fowler's aunt, Tamara McCoy.
Tamara, what were you told about the conditions of her
going missing? I was just told that she went out on the porch to smoke a cigarette and walked off
and never seen again. Okay, there's so many things wrong with that story. I don't know where to start.
Let me just straight out to Lisa Daddio, former police lieutenant with the New Haven PD.
And she's a senior lecturer and director of the Center for Advanced Policing.
OK, at University of New Haven.
Lisa, thank you for being with us.
There's a lot missing from that story.
And it's not Aunt Tamara's fault.
She's telling us what she's told she goes
out for a cigarette and she's apparently going for a walk and then somehow she just vanishes off the
face of the earth it's hard for me to believe that no one saw a thing l Lisa. Nancy, it's really hard to wrap my head around as well,
especially in this day and age
when everybody's aware of everything going on.
And how does somebody just literally disappear
walking or even on the front porch
of a home having a cigarette?
I mean, there's just so many things there
that just don't make sense as to how she disappeared.
Amen.
I'm just looking at pictures of her.
You know, Jackie, if you looked at her, she looks like some TV star.
And I can't place.
She reminds me of Gabby Petito.
She does look a little like Gabby Petito.
I was thinking of Catherine.
Is it Heigl or Heigl?
Heigl.
That's it.
That's her.
That's who she looks like. She looks like Catherine Heigl or Heigl? Heigl. That's it. That's her. That's who she looks like.
She looks like Katherine Heigl.
And she looks like, oh, oh, okay.
My daughter has recently gotten into Gossip Girls.
Have you ever seen that?
Okay.
I know more about it now than I ever want to say.
Blake Lively.
They're all great.
Okay.
The mother, the mother of Blake Lively.
That's who she looks like. That's who she looks like. Except a younger, a younger version.
She's beautiful. Guys, we're talking to Olivia Fowler's aunt.
And I have by your name, like a mom to Olivia. Yes, ma'am.
And the reason I often give they look like X is so people have a mental image.
They can't see her missing poster.
They have a mental image of Olivia.
And she's right there in broad daylight in the morning hours.
Isn't that right, Jackie?
You know what?
Let me go to Amanda Peralta joining me.
Investigative reporter.
I can't believe
I didn't already go to you.
Amanda Peralta is with us
with WRBL News 3.
You can find her on Twitter
at Amanda Peralta TV.
Tell me about her missing.
She goes out for a cigarette.
She is later seen
taking a walk down the street and then
suddenly, bam, she's gone. First of all, let's start with the area. Where did this happen exactly?
So this happened on Pebble Brook Road, which is located in Manchester, Georgia. It's a very rural
area, small town, southwest Georgia. The population is about 3,982 people. Hold on. Hold on, Amanda. 3,082
people. 3,982. 982. So about 4,000. And we're talking about Meriwether County, right? Yes,
ma'am. That is some of the prettiest countryside, I think, in the world in Merriweather County.
It's beautiful.
I agree.
And I can tell you, we were just in Merriweather County because we took the children camping,
the whole shebang where you cook on a fire and hot coals, that whole thing, near Pine
Mountain and Warm Springs where Roosevelt
had the little White House.
So we went through Merriweather County to get there.
And we all were driving.
We were driving on looking and said, this looks like heaven.
I wonder if this is what heaven looks like.
And that's the backdrop for this girl to just vanish off the face of the earth.
So Amanda Peralta with me,
WRBL News 3. Tell me how this went down. She was seen walking in the morning hours wearing white
shorts, a tie-dyed shirt, and flip-flops, right? Yes. So family has confirmed to me and police have
confirmed that Olivia was walking down Pebble
Brook Road. The last time that she was seen was on the 13th when a DNR Department of Natural
Resources officer saw her walking down the road. Okay, well, wait, hold that thought, Amanda.
You know what? Let me go to you. Natalie Quam is with us.
You should know that name, and I'll tell you why.
Vanessa Gim.
Remember Vanessa, the gorgeous young soldier at Fort Hood who was taken and murdered?
And many people think the whole thing was covered up by the military. At the
very least, they weren't doing their jobs. Amen. Natalie can be found at the whistleblower law
firm, quamlaw.com. Natalie, it's so great to speak to you again. What do you make of what
you're hearing right now?
I mean, you can't get much of a better witness than an officer with DNR, Department of Natural Resources.
Nancy, thanks for having me on.
You know, when I read this article,
it gave me goosebumps when they said they saw her walking.
This is the same story we heard with Vanessa
when they said they saw her walking across the parking lot.
That never happened. No one saw her walking across the parking lot. That never happened.
No one saw her walking across the parking lot, but it was three guys, quote unquote, smoking a cigarette that said this.
And of course, everybody wants to go with whatever the whatever anyone witness says when sometimes witnesses are wrong or lying.
Not sure what happened with Vanessa's case, but Vanessa never walked across
the parking lot. Vanessa was murdered, bludgeoned to death in the armory room. So those facts didn't
help, or I should say those witness statements didn't help because it stopped everybody from
looking further out, looking where the problem really was, which was in the armory room right below their nose.
But I think this is I think this is very credible because a lot of times people will say, oh, I saw her here.
I saw her there. You've got an officer with the Department of Natural Resources seeing Olivia Fowler.
And I think that's a pretty darn good witness.
Well, you know, I'm not doubting anyone's witness statements, but we had three soldiers
and three officers
seeing, you know, Vanessa.
So again,
I can't say which two are not.
What bothers me here is
where is that,
where are the authorities?
What's happening?
Like you said,
people just don't vanish.
No, they don't. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last days, we learned that the body
of 27-year-old Georgia mom, the mother, the daughter, the sister, the grandchild,
beloved by so many, these remains have been identified. It hurts for me to even say it. I
had such high hopes that she would be found alive. But how did she go missing?
Guys, take a listen to our friends at WXIA 11. Olivia Fowler is the first name listed
in the National Missing Persons Database for Georgia. She's the most recent disappearance
reported. She's been gone for 38 days today. Her baby boy just turned a year old. He's walking.
I know Olivia would never just leave her kids. Olivia Fowler missed her son's first birthday since she's been gone.
Her grandmother died and Olivia missed her funeral.
Her aunt, Tamara McCoy, knows Olivia would have been there if there was any way she could.
Olivia loves family. Loves, loves, loves her family.
She's a great mother with the biggest heart. Joining me right now, our friend
from New York, psychologist Karen Stark. You can find her at KarenStark.com. That's Karen with a C.
Karen, thank you for being with us. It really hit me when I heard she missed her son's first birthday.
Karen Stark, you were with me when I was planning the twins' first birthday.
Remember, we had it at Moon Soup.
It was a play place for children on First Avenue.
Let's see.
First.
Yes.
First Avenue between 56 and 53.
That was their hangout where we would go to mommy and me and bendy exercise classes.
The first birthday. Right. That was a blowout because you should have seen the outside of that Karen Stark, because there were so many strollers of other friend babies there outside of Moonsoup.
They could not be contained inside of Moonsoup, the play place.
They blocked the sidewalk.
I mean, that was a one year old party blowout.
Let me tell you. And for this young mom to miss her son's first birthday,
no, you'd have to pull up my fingernails before I would miss the twins first birthday.
It's not just you, Nancy. I mean, you know more than anyone, right, that a mom doesn't miss a
birthday. Well, beside that, she wouldn't miss the funeral. None of that sounds like the
person that she was. And something doesn't make any sense because she really is seen, it seems to
me, by a credible witness. I do want to say that the family is quite incredible. I love that they put together a Revere's Army
and that they have that approach,
that they're going to be fierce about this.
It's the best thing you can do in a situation
where you feel hopeless and you have no control.
So really, bravo to all of you.
Speaking of Karen Stratton,
you really hit the nail on the head
about victims' families feeling hopeless and not having any control.
Like there's nothing helpless and hopeless.
There's nothing you can do.
So Tamara McCoy mobilized Olivia's army.
Joining me is someone that knows a lot about that feeling.
Whitney Sick,
founder,
president of A Voice for the Voiceless.
And you can find her on Facebook, A Voice for the Voiceless Inc. on Twitter at True Crime Sister.
Whitney, weigh in about that feeling that Olivia's family is suffering right now of hopeless
and helpless. There's nothing they can do.
A lot of families come to me and they say, I never thought this would happen to me. And now
it's happened to me and I don't know what to do. And that's what happened with Aunt Tammy. She
messaged me and said, I saw you share my Olivia. I'd like to talk to you about her. And so we just
started brainstorming about Olivia and how to bring awareness. And she was very adamant
that she did not just disappear. She wouldn't leave her family. She wouldn't leave her children.
And so here we are. We just haven't stopped. And we're a force to be reckoned with until she comes
home or until we find her. You know, Natalie Quam is with us. This is the high profile lawyer that
represents Vanessa Guillen's family. Natalie, how sick does it make you when a woman goes missing?
Cops and others say, oh, she's just off with her boyfriend.
She's found a new boyfriend.
She just needed time alone.
That's all BS.
You know, Nancy's rules of evidence, some kind of habit is admissible.
If she wasn't like that before, if she'd ever missed, first of all, I agree with all of you.
Moms don't miss their kids' birthdays.
They don't miss this stuff.
And there's no history of it.
So, you know, it's admissible to say that there was no habit of this or she never did that before.
So it's shocking that it's, and thanks, Tammy, for you putting together that army.
But it's shocking that Tammy for you putting together that army but it's shocking that
this is still happening it's nobody we're not calling in the forces here you know and I saw
her her beautiful face Nancy I think you were talking about Kelly Rutherford yes yes that's
her name that's who she looks like Kelly Rutherford she's kind of a mix between Kelly
Rutherford and Gabby Petito get that in your your head. That's what Olivia Fowler looks like. Guys, take a listen to our friends at Fox 5.
The town of Manchester is about two hours south of Atlanta. It was just outside of here,
a few miles away, that a DNR ranger provided the last sighting of Olivia Fowler. And that
was more than a month ago. It was 10 30 in the morning on August 13th
that a DNR Ranger saw 26 year old Olivia Fowler walking along Pebble Brook Road
in Merriweather County that's the last known sighting of her according to law
enforcement and her family doesn't have a purse she doesn't have a phone she
doesn't have a license just to have a security card she doesn't have a bag as
far as we know, an overnight bag.
Now, Tamara McCoy, her aunt, walks the same road searching for any sign of her niece.
Didn't have her purse, her cell phone, her social security, her driver's license, nothing.
That tells me she did not intend to be away for very long.
When I go out on a walk or a jog, I plan to come back.
I don't take my driver's license with me for sure,
or my social security card if I can find it.
No, because I'm planning to come back.
Take a listen to Doug Evans, Fox 5.
The Meriwether County Sheriff's Office says Olivia Fowler was last seen
wearing a tie-dye shirt, white cut-off shorts, and black flip-flops.
The sheriff's office here is asking for the public's help in locating Olivia,
saying they have talked to witnesses, conducted ground and air searches, and have followed up on leads.
But she is still missing.
Olivia wouldn't go 40 days without reaching out to her family at all.
Olivia Fowler is 26 years old
and the mother of three small children.
Her family says her youngest child
had his first birthday during her disappearance.
Straight back out to Tamara McCoy.
This is Olivia's aunt that helped raise her.
Tamara, you go up and down that stretch of road
searching for her by foot. Tell me about
it. What is there? Do you pass homes with mailboxes and potentially ring doorbell cams? I mean,
what kind of area is it? It is a country, rural area. I mean, it's a lot of woods. There's houses
out there. We actually went out there a few months after Livia went missing and questioned several of the locals and just trying to see if anybody had cameras and just to see any find out anything.
And that's when we found out that none of them had been questioned.
And we later on found out that Livia had been seen that same day in the afternoon between three and five at the end
of Pebble Brook Road. Wow. So that completely changes the timeline. So she's seen that afternoon
between three and five, the very same afternoon that she was spotted that morning. It's very
disturbing. Lisa M. Daddio joining us, former police lieutenant with the New Haven PD, now the director for the Center for Advanced Policing and Grad Program.
Lisa, why is the family having to go door to door to find out if residents along that stretch of the road have ring doorbells?
Why is that happening?
It shouldn't be happening. But as we've seen more times than any of us can count, it's always the families who
are going a thousand steps ahead of law enforcement in a lot of cases to really look for information,
pretend they're loved ones. The reasons, you know, I don't want to make excuses for a law
enforcement agency, but it could be staffing. It could be other cases. Okay. Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Lisa Daddio,
I appreciate you throwing the local police and sheriffs a bone, but Meriwether County
is extremely rural. You just heard the county has about 4,000 people. They are not inundated with murder cases.
Okay?
Thanks for trying to cover for them, your fellow brethren in the law,
but that's total BS, and I'm calling you on it.
What about it?
You can call me on it.
Yeah, you're called.
Whitney, joining us, founder, president, voice for the voiceless.
Why is the family out trying to get ring camera video?
That's a great question i've seen aunt tammy knee deep in mud and sticks and holes in the woods
out in the middle of nowhere looking for olivia and no law enforcement in sight um i wish that
they would do more they say that they're working diligently on it i haven't seen any wide-scale
searches or flyers or things like that. Yeah, I haven't either.
Tamara McCoy, you're Olivia's aunt.
What is happening?
Why are you the one out rewalking the scene in the mud and going door to door trying to
get ring camera video?
Well, I mean, they just kept saying that she might be taking a break.
A break? From what?
I don't know. Life? I don't know.
That's a good question.
She was ignored for 38 days before she was actually taken seriously.
Question to you.
Who actually fixed their mouth to say she might be taking a break?
Who said that?
Chief Hadley in Meriwether County.
Chief Hadley in Meriwether County.
That'd be the Meriwether Sheriff's Office.
Said she might be taking a break.
Okay.
Natalie Quam, does it never end?
Because that's what they said about Vanessa Guillen.
Before her burned burned dismembered
body was found what was left of it yeah she was taking a break all right right and the same kind
of facts she didn't take her driver's license you're right Nancy when people go missing well
how about this when people want to go take a break or they want to leave or they want to get away or
something they're taking their things with them they They're going away. They plan this. They don't leave with nothing. I mean, that's just not how it works. The problem is, is once
this narrative is released by law enforcement, it tells the public, don't worry. And so here we are
left with everyone not worrying but us, the family and hopefully a few people in the army that we've
built. Amanda Peralta joining us, investigative reporter WRBL.
What does the sheriff have to say about this asinine statement?
Maybe she's taking a break.
Now, he did not say that directly to me.
I'm sure. Were you holding a microphone when you talked to him?
Yes, ma'am.
So what are they saying?
As far as what I know, there have been over 20 search warrants executed and multiple counties and states have been searched.
And there have been land and air operations.
Okay, that is heartening.
That is very heartening, Amanda Peralta.
When, may I ask, were those searches initiated?
How far into her being missing did we have a search?
I do not have a specific date on this.
Okay.
Well, I'm glad to hear that.
That makes me feel a little bit better.
What about Tamara?
When did they start performing air searches?
I haven't heard.
I just heard a helicopter was going through the town, but I was told they were looking for someone had that was stealing
some lawn mowers or something but i didn't know that it was anything to do with olivia
i haven't seen them do any searches or and i've planned searches weekly all the time and you know
with only three and four ten people at the most have showed showed up. And I grew up in this town and, you know,
this is my hometown. And when the chief, the sheriff of the town tells you, let me know when
you find her, then that shows you that there's issues. Did the sheriff say that? Chuck Smith
did. Who is Chuck Smith? He's the chief sheriff. He's the sheriff of the county jail.
What's his name again?
What is his name?
Chuck Smith.
He is the, what, he runs the county jail?
Let me know when you find her.
Yes, ma'am.
Guys, this young mom missing, and the days are ticking by.
Take a listen to our friends at WSB-TV.
They're worried, very worried that
something terrible may have happened to her. That's why they're very relieved to hear that
investigators here at the FBI have been working on this case. They hope they might be able to
find the answers they've been waiting nine months for. Definitely foul play was definitely involved.
The family of 27-year-old Olivia Fowler fears something awful
happened. Her mother and sister told us they're worried someone may be holding Olivia against her
will. She's somewhere where she can't get to us. She's somewhere she can't get to a phone.
Someone's holding her is how I feel. I just feel that something wrong or something bad's happened.
We went to the rural road in Merriweather County where Olivia was last seen in August of last year.
It's here along Pebble Brook Road in Manchester where a witness spotted Olivia walking.
Then she seemingly vanished. I believe that she might have been walking and someone picked her up that wasn't
the right people. Someone picked her up that wasn't the right people. Okay, to Tamara McCoy,
why do you believe that? Because we did also have a tip that Olivia was seen at the end in that same area talking to a four-door sedan gray or tan and that she got in
the vehicle and law enforcement said that the guy that reported the tip was didn't make sense what
about that didn't make sense i i don't know i guess the way he talked he's country you know and
maybe not clear enough for him i'm'm not sure. Well, I hardly think
that a rural background makes you a moron. I agree. He's actually this gentleman. He reaches out
frequently just to see if we've heard anything, and he just wonders why nothing has been done.
And, you know, I even sent him a picture of a couple vehicles possibly could have been it.
And he actually recognized them, a couple.
What kind of car does he think it was?
A Ford Focus.
Ford Focus.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace la law enforcement has announced that human remains found have been confirmed to be that of 27 year old mom olivia samantha fowler last seen walking
along pebble brook road in rural meriwether County. How has this happened?
Guys, I want you to take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. The last known credible sighting
of Fowler was by a Georgia DNR officer on Friday. He reported seeing Fowler walking along Pebble
Brook Road in Meriwether County. Investigators began canvassing the area following up with witnesses
besides the DNR officer who reported seeing Fowler. Ground and aerial searches were conducted even
outside the county and state. Canine searches were conducted and more than 20 search warrants
executed but there are no leads. The FBI is now joined in the search. Fowler's family also launched
a social media campaign on Facebook,
hashtag bring Olivia home to help find her. Now, what do we know about the night before
she is seen for the last time? Take a listen to our friends at WXIA 11.
Olivia was reported missing after seeing a man she was dating, according to her aunt.
Police have not named him as a suspect and reported she went missing
wearing a tank top and flip-flops. McCoy drives around in their hometown in Meriwether County
endlessly looking for her niece. I got her clothes in the back seat of my car.
I've had them riding around with them for four weeks now because one ad says she had no shoes
and only a tank top.
So I want to make sure she's got what she needs.
You are hearing the voice of Olivia's aunt.
This is Tamara McCoy.
Tamara, you just said something that reminds me of Beth Holloway.
That's Natalie Holloway's mother.
She and I recently went back to Aruba to retrace Natalie's steps and see if we could generate more leads and her disappearance.
I believe her murder.
And she told me that for, I think, 10 years after Natalie went missing, she never went anywhere that Natalie had been kidnapped and sold into the sex trade.
And that she would be found alive in some other country and would need her passport.
And here I'm hearing that you ride around with Olivia's clothes in the backseat of your car in case she needs them when you find her.
Well, she's tiny.
And I know if she's out there, she's cold and she's got no shoes.
And I know they set a tank top and shorts and I just she doesn't have her stuff.
And I just felt like I wanted to have it when I found her.
Take a listen to our friend Caitlin Ross. Merriweather County Police told 11 Alive Olivia's case is open and they are
actively searching for her but did not share any new information. We've followed leads, we've
organized searches, we've got flyers out and it's been 38 days today. McCoy says she's holding out hope that Olivia is alive,
that she'll come back to her family. Her last words is, I love you with all my heart. Tamara
says she tells Olivia's children every day how much their mom loves them and that if she could
be, she would be there with them right now. To Karen Stark joining us, a renowned psychologist joining us out of Manhattan at KarenStark.com.
Karen, unless we solve this case, these children may grow up buying into what the sheriff said.
She just took a break.
Unless we solve this case, the rest of their lives are going to be plagued with abandonment. Well, Nancy, not just abandonment, but grief over the loss and not knowing.
That's the key ingredient here is that you never get to know what happened.
And so that just leaves you in this state where you're searching.
You're searching.
I think the great example is you're driving around with clothes in the car.
I mean, hoping, and you don't give up hope.
And that's not okay to spend your whole life hoping that somehow your mom who disappeared will show up again.
It's heartbreaking.
To think that, wow, my mom just got tired of us.
Was it my fault?
She just left.
What more do we know? Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online.
On Thursday, Olivia Fowler stayed at her boyfriend's house in Manchester, Georgia.
It's a small town about two hours south of Atlanta.
The boyfriend tells Olivia's sister Roxanne that as he went to bed that night, Olivia said she would be outside on the porch for a bit.
When he woke up, Olivia was gone. Witnesses reported seeing Fowler walking in the community early that Friday morning. A Georgia
Department of Natural Resources officer reported seeing her walking at 10 a.m. On Saturday, Roxanne
Fowler's mother called and asked if she had talked with Olivia. When no one could find Fowler, a
missing person report was filed. What can you tell me about the boyfriend that was with her the night before?
I know she was seen after the night she spent at his place.
But what can you tell me about him?
Has he been ruled out?
No, ma'am, he hasn't.
He was actually never labeled as a person of interest.
But they did have a history of domestic altercation with him and Olivia and two other gentlemen where he was holding her against her will.
I was able to retrieve some messages between the two of them where he made a comment, you'll walk away one day and never be seen again.
And he was never labeled a person of interest?
No, ma'am. They questioned him. They said that he just said he went to sleep, and when he woke up, she was gone.
After that hot day in August, Olivia Samantha Fowler was never seen again,
and now her family, reeling, devastated with the news.
Her remains have been identified.
Take a listen to our friends at WSB-TV.
Back then, her mother and sister told investigators they suspected foul play. More than a year later, in December of 2022,
human remains were found in Merriweather County, but not identified until now to be Olivia Fowler.
The county is now classifying this once missing person case as a death investigation, telling us
there is still evidence to be analyzed and processed before releasing any other details. The FBI says it will continue to work with
Meriwether County to help solve this case for the Fowler family. As it stands at this hour,
no arrest made in the death of missing mom Olivia Samantha Fowler. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend.
