Showing posts with label Not Reported Missing Until Much Later. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Not Reported Missing Until Much Later. Show all posts

Missing Person: Betty Ann Holt - Acworth, Georgia, March 1st, 1985

Missing Person: Betty Ann Holt


Details from a government source (might be paraphrased):

Betty Ann Holt was last seen on March 1st, 1985 (Friday), at a relative's residence in Acworth, Georgia, after an argument. She left on foot, walking toward Highway 92, and has not been seen or heard from since.

Last contact: Note that March 1st, 1985 (Friday) is listed on her NamUs profile for when she was last seen but I do wonder if the date might be only an estimate. When only a month and year is known for when a person was last seen, NamUs will use the 1st as a kind of placeholder. However, the disappearance date could still be accurate. Nonetheless, from what I read about this case, she was reported missing some 40 years after her last-seen date. To me, that brings into question the reliability of memory for all the key details. Anyone looking at this case should be open to a time range from early 1985 for a last-seen date, in my opinion.
Last location: Acworth, Georgia - Relative's residence, walking toward Highway 92
Age when Betty Ann Holt disappeared: 15
DOB: Likely between March 2nd, 1969 and March 1st, 1970 based on her age at the time of her disappearance.
Sex: Female
Height in inches: 65 - 67
Weight in pounds (lbs): 120 - 130
BMI: 19.9 - 22.7 - Healthy weight (calculated to help picture what Betty Ann might have looked like)
Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Hair color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Link to Government Source: NamUs MP146921 (right-click to open)
Discussion page: Websleuths discussion

Unraveling the Mystery: Key Insights and Updates

By: Shane Lambert
Original time of writing: August 16th, 2025 (Saturday)

Has Betty Ann Holt been found?

Betty Ann Holt remains missing as of August 16th, 2025. In fact, her case was only recently uploaded to NamUs. It may be that she was only reported missing in 2025, creating a 40-year gap between her last-seen date and her missing persons report. The investigating agency tab at NamUs states she was reported missing on May 30th, 2025.

There wasn't anything in newspapers archives that I could find on this missing person in terms of journalism from about the time of her disappearance. That makes sense if she was not reported missing until 2025. I do invite others to look through similar resources to see if a missing person's report ever hit the newspapers in the mid-1980s as the keyword combinations that might generate a hit can be immense.

I think that this case might open up a bit if the person that decided to report her missing opens up a Facebook group or posts information in forums about Betty Holt's disappearance.

Discounting Samuel Little


In exploring potential leads in the cold case of Betty Ann Holt's disappearance from Acworth, Georgia, on March 1st, 1985, Samuel Little initially emerged as a compelling figure to consider due to his prolific history as a serial killer active in the Southeast during the 1980s. Little confessed to at least seven murders in Georgia, including several in the Atlanta area—roughly 30 miles from Acworth. He targeted vulnerable young women, often strangling them after opportunistic encounters on roadways or in distressed situations, which could superficially aligned with Holt's profile as a 15-year-old walking alone toward Highway 92 after a family argument.

His nomadic lifestyle and confessions to killings in nearby cities like Macon and Savannah in the early 1980s made him a plausible suspect at first glance. However, upon closer examination, I think Little was incarcerated in San California in 1985. This timeline firmly eliminates him as a suspect if Holt met foul play shortly after her last sighting.

Brenda Kay Lambert -- Missing Since July 2000?

Details from NamUs**: "The victim never arrived at the Christmas dinner six years prior to the date the complainant filed this report."

The hashtag for Missing Persons Commentary.

Missing Person: Brenda Kay Lambert (not to be confused with Brenda Gail Lambert who is missing from Bluewell, West Virginia)

Last-contact date: July 5th, 2000
The area where the MP was last seen: Memphis, Tennessee
Link to government source: NamUs #MP57704

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: White
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 40 years old
Birthdate: July 6th, 1959 to July 5th, 1960
  • When the birthdate isn't known, I calculate a range using the age at the date of the missing person's disappearance.
Hair details: Blond/strawberry
Eye details: Hazel
Scars: None known
Height/weight: 5-foot-3 and 100 pounds
BMI*: In this case, the missing person was underweight by BMI at the time of the disappearance.
BMI is "body mass index." It relates to an individual's height and weight.
  • BMI is important, especially when there are no photographs of an individual. It can help someone get an idea of what a person's body might have looked like.

Commentary

Brenda Kay Lambert, a missing person, was seemingly last heard from on July 5th, 2000 when she was 40 years old. However, this is a case where a couple things stand out to me.

Specifically, if you look at the very top of the article and see the NamUs description, it's hard to make perfect sense of all the information that's available: "The victim never arrived at the Christmas dinner six years prior to the date the complainant filed this report."

The quote designates the missing person as a "victim." That designation seems presumptuous without more information. Not all missing people are victims: people have innocent accidents or go missing voluntarily. The NamUs description seems to take "voluntarily missing" out of the picture.

Additionally, the description is a little funny because Brenda Kay Lambert is listed as missing as of July 2000. That is supposed to be when someone conclusively heard from her or saw her. That being the case, what does the information regarding the December-time Christmas dinner pertain to? As everything is written, it sounds like this person was invited to Christmas dinner in July of 2000, she failed to arrive in late December of 2000 and was reported missing six years later. That doesn't really make sense and something really stinks about this missing person profile.

If you don't quite get the picture right now, then I'm with you. Perhaps a good starting point is just to get to the basics and, in this case, that means literally getting a picture. When a missing person, like Brenda Kay Lambert, doesn't have a photo with her profile, researchers can try to find a photo at Ancestry.com or at Newspapers.com. My efforts failed but new documents are added to those websites all the time so please try to find something on her if you have memberships to those sites.

Author: Shane Lambert
All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.
Shane Lambert is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of February 2021.
Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.

Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing person. However, any source that the article writer deems potentially reliable may be used.





Alma Jean Octetree -- Missing Since May of 2012

Author: Shane Lambert
Original Time of Writing: December 28th, 2020
All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Missing person: Alma Jean Octetree
Date last seen: May 30th, 2012 but not reported missing until 2014
Where last seen: Asheville, North Carolina
NamUs # and Link: #MP26177
Ethnicity/Race: White
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 55 years old
Hair: Brown
Eye color: Hazel
Height and weight at the time of disappearance: 5'2" and 115 pounds
Other: Rose tattoo on her right calf

Commentary and opinion:

This case may be related to the missing person's case of Regenia Gail Hendrix. The last person to see her was allegedly Clarence Octetree in 2014. This individual was the husband of Alma Jean Octetree. Authorities have interviewed him in both cases but have not said whether he is a suspect in the case. 

According to Asheville's ABC affiliate, regarding Clarence Octetree: "An Asheville man accused of raping, beating and burning a woman — while holding her captive for three days — has also been connected to two missing local women" (January 22nd, 2018 article).

When I looked at Clarence Octetree, I found newspaper articles that chronicled brush-ins with the law over the decades and brush-ins with homelessness. They included a prison escape that was successful for a short time.

I also found legal notices in classified ads that were addressed to a Clarence Octetree of Asheville. These legal noticed had to do with storage lockers in delinquent status. 

Thu, Nov 3, 2016 – Page C4 · Asheville Citizen-Times (Asheville, North Carolina) · Newspapers.com
Alma Jean Octetree
Alma Jean Octetree Wed, Oct 14, 2015 – Page C6 · Asheville Citizen-Times (Asheville, North Carolina) · Newspapers.com

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