Georgia mom Debbie Collier was murdered in a ‘deliberate and personal’ attack, cops say

Georgia mom Debbie Collier was murdered in a ‘personal and targeted’ slaying ‘not a random act of violence,’ cops revealed Friday.

They also released new video of the 59-year-old showing her sitting for 10 minutes in her rented Chrysler Pacifica outside a Family Dollar store – covering the time her daughter received a payment and chilling message through payment app Venmo.

Collier’s cell phone and purse were found where her burned and naked body was discovered on September 11 in a deeply wooded ravine near scenic Tallulah Falls, Georgia, officers confirmed at a press briefing.

But they could not yet confirm that the Venmo message was sent from the device.

‘We do not believe that this was a random act of violence, we do not believe that this is the act of a serial killer, said Habersham County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Murray Kogod. ‘We believe that this act was deliberate and personal.’

Previously released footage shows Collier calmly walking into the Family Dollar in Clayton, Georgia, at 2.55pm on Saturday, September 10 and buying a number of items later found by her body.

She is wearing a replica Herschel Walker shirt from his time at the University of Georgia, a blue skirt, what appears to be black boots with slight heels and a red sun visor.

The real estate office manager is then seen at the cash register buying a rain poncho, refillable torch lighter, a 2-roll pack of paper towels, a 7.5ft. x 9.5ft. tarp, and a reusable tote bag – before leaving at 3.09pm.

In the new footage, she waits in the black 2022 Pacifica for 10 minutes until 3.19pm before heading south on GA15.

The Venmo message was received by daughter Amanda Bearden, 36, at 3.17pm. It transferred $2,385 and contained the message: ‘They are not going to let me go, love you there is a key to the house in the blue flower pot by the door.’

DailyMail.com had submitted by email a series of questions for the briefing, which included the whereabouts of Collier’s phone and if it was the device used to send the Venmo message.

Lead investigator George Cason confirmed the phone was found with the body along with Debbie’s purse.

‘We are still waiting for more information to confirm or deny where the Venmo was sent from,’ he said. ‘But we can confirm that Amanda did receive the Venmo. She did receive money… we do not know where that money is now.

‘We are in possession of that cell phone, we do have it in evidence and it was located at the crime scene.’

Collier’s cause of death is still not being revealed, the briefing heard – and no clues to any suspects were disclosed. Investigators said they continue to rule out suicide and it remains a murder investigation.

DailyMail.com had asked what Collier’s phone records had revealed.

‘We have served multiple search warrants on multiple cell phone carriers,’ said Cason. ‘We are working with them to get all pertinent data from those devices and from those carriers.

‘Hopefully we will be able to develop more of a timeline and find out more information about what exactly happened.’

Referring again to the Venmo transfer, he said: ‘You can access accounts from many different devices. Which is why we are going through the extent of being able to determine what device that Venmo was sent from.

‘We are still obtaining information, when it was sent, where it was sent, what device it was sent from.’

Regarding the analysis of records and data – such as Debbie’s phone records, internet usage, financial records plus those of her family – the detective would only say: ‘That being sensitive information, we don’t want to reveal any information that could potentially jeopardize our investigation.’

He also would not be led on possible suspects, but added: ‘Right now we have not ruled anyone out of this. We have developing leads. We are still in the process of trying to find a person or persons of interest.

‘We are continuing to investigate Deb’s activities from September 10 through to September 11. We’ve lost a lot of sleep. We don’t want to show our hand before we have facts.’

Chief Deputy Kogod added ‘we are not ruling anything out’ when asked if Debbie might have met someone where her van was found near her body – 60 miles from the home she shared with husband Steven, 67, in Athens, Georgia.

Cops also revealed video showed the husband was at work between 9am and 4pm on Saturday, September 10.

Debbie’s minivan – rented from Enterprise because her truck was in for repairs – was discovered at the entrance to a densely wooded area off Route 15 in Clarksville. Clayton is 12 miles north while Athens is south.

Her body was discovered some quarter of a mile away. Police reported she was clinging to a small tree, was naked and her body was charred.

A red tote bag was nearby as was a blue tarp, both items she had bought in Clayton. She was found lying next to an area of burnt leaves – a few feet away from an uprooted tree which has its roots burnt.

No one has been arrested for her brutal killing and there is no indication that either Bearden or her boyfriend, Andrew Giegerich, are considered suspects.

Bearden has a history of lying to police and violent lovers’ tiffs with Giegerich, her live-in, MMA fighter boyfriend who says the pair have been ‘interrogated’ over her mother’s killing.

In May last year, police intervened in the couple’s relationship after Amanda phoned 911, claiming Andrew had ‘broken in’ to the house to beat her.

She showed them photos of bruises on her arms and shoulders to prove it.

She was however arrested for a falsely reporting a burglary, after police determined he was living in the home and had full access to it.

Giegerich, 27, was arrested on September 4, 2021, for violating a no-contact order and banging on his on-and-off-again girlfriend ‘s home.

He claimed Bearden was stealing money for drugs from him and had kicked him out.

The arrest came almost a year before he allegedly wrote a threatening handwritten message, contained in police evidence files, stating: ‘If you or your family ever come near me again I will hurt them.

‘Have a nice life you lying a** b**ch. Don’t ever contact me again!!!” But they are now back living together in Athens.

Debbie’s husband Steve Collier fought back tears as he told DailyMail.com last week that Debbie was the ‘love of his life.’

The couple had been married for nine years and both had children from previous marriages.

‘It has been a long two weeks and I’m very tired. My wife was a wonderful person,’ he said.

A close friend of the couple, who did not want to be identified, confided to DailyMail.com: ‘Steve loved Debbie with all his heart. I know that for a fact.

‘I cannot imagine what he’s going through right now, with the terrible loss of his wife and having to be part of the murder investigation and all that entails.

‘I have known them both for many years and they were a devoted couple.’

In a direct move of support, he added: ‘I know suspicion can fall on the family of murder victims, but I would bet my life Steve had nothing whatsoever to do with Debbie’s disappearance.’

On September 10, Steve reported Debbie as missing, claiming that he hadn’t seen her since 9pm the previous night at their home. He said they slept in separate bedrooms because of his heavy snoring.

When questioned, Bearden told police that she last saw her mother the night before she vanished, and that everything was normal. She received the Venmo message the day her mother was reported missing.

In an interview with CBS after her mother’s body was found, Amanda appeared shaken and struggling to speak.

‘My mom was my everything. Somebody took my whole world from me. She was a beautiful, kind, giving woman. She didn’t deserve this,’ she said, her head and hands shaking.