McRAE-HELENA, Ga. (AP) — Someone using a magnet to fish for metal objects in a Georgia creek pulled up a rifle as well as some lost belongings of a couple found slain in the same area more than nine years ago.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says driver's licenses, credit cards and other items dragged from Horse Creek in rural Telfair County are “new evidence” in a murder case that's still awaiting trial.
A citizen who was magnet fishing in the creek on April 14 discovered a .22-caliber rifle, the GBI said in a news release Monday. The unnamed person returned to the same spot two days later and made another find: A bag containing a cellphone, a pair of driver's licenses and credit cards.
The agency says the licenses and credit cards belonged to Bud and June Runion. The couple was robbed and fatally shot before their bodies were discovered off a county road in January 2015.
Authorities say the couple, from Marietta north of Atlanta, made the three-hour drive to Telfair County to meet someone offering to sell Bud Runion a 1966 Mustang.
A few days later, investigators arrested Ronnie Adrian “Jay” Towns on charges of armed robbery and murder. They said Towns lured the couple to Telfair County by replying to an online ad that the 69-year-old Bud Runion had posted seeking a classic car, though Towns didn't own such a vehicle.
Georgia courts threw out Towns’ first indictment over problems with how the grand jury was selected — a prolonged legal battle that concluded in 2019. Towns was indicted for a second time in the killings in 2020, and the case was delayed again by the COVID-19 pandemic. He has pleaded not guilty.
Court proceedings have also likely been slowed by prosecutors’ decision to seek the death penalty, which requires extra pretrial legal steps.
Towns' defense attorney, Franklin Hogue, did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Prosecutors are preparing for Towns' trial to start as soon as August, though no date has been set, said District Attorney Tim Vaughn of the Oconee Judicial Circuit, which includes Telfair County. He said the newly discovered evidence should prove useful.
“It was a good case already," Vaughn said Tuesday, "but this makes it an even better case.”
He said the rifle from the creek is the same caliber as the gun that killed the Runions, though investigators are still trying to determine whether it's the weapon used in the crime.
The items found in the creek also led investigators to obtain warrants to search a Telfair County home where they recovered additional evidence. The GBI’s statement gave no further details and Vaughn declined to comment on what was found.
FILE - Ronnie Adrian "Jay" Towns makes his first courtroom appearance, Jan. 27, 2015, in McRae, Ga. According to a news release issued Monday, April 23, 2024, someone using a magnet on Sunday, April 14, to fish for metal objects in a Georgia creek pulled up a rifle as well as some lost belongings of Bud and June Runion, the couple found slain in the same area more than nine years ago. Towns was arrested shortly their bodies were discovered on charges of armed robbery and murder. (Kent D. Johnson/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
FILE - This combination of photos provided on Jan. 26, 2015, by the Cobb County Police Department shows June Runion, of Marietta, Ga., and her husband, Elrey "Bud" Runion. According to a news release issued Monday, April 23, 2024, someone using a magnet on Sunday, April 14, to fish for metal objects in a Georgia creek pulled up a rifle as well as some lost belongings of the couple found slain in the same area more than nine years ago. (Cobb County Police Department via AP, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The lucky home run sausage safely returned to Minnesota with the Twins — and their winning streak.
After hitting coach David Popkins initiated the superstition last week, grabbing an unopened summer sausage from a table in the clubhouse and encouraging his players to tap it before their at-bats, the Twins coincidentally followed with a flurry of big hits.
Edouard Julien and Ryan Jeffers hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning of the April 24 game at Target Field, and after Carlos Santana went deep in the eighth, Jeffers actually tossed the sausage to the first baseman on his return to the dugout. From there, the ritual went viral. But not bacterial, they hope.
The Twins wisely took the sausage with them on the road, double-sealed in a plastic bag and stuffed into a shoe. They won all six games, a franchise first for a trip of that length, and took a 10-game win streak into their game on Friday against Boston.
Jeffers, wearing a navy blue “Home Run Sausage” T-shirt featuring a salami-shaped slugger swinging for the fences, was coy in the clubhouse before the game when asked about the cured meat's whereabouts.
There was a reason for that, manager Rocco Baldelli said.
“It’s in the fridge, in the coaches room. We keep it away from the players until the last possible second, when the game starts,” said Baldelli, who had a different, assumedly fresher, summer sausage on his desk in his office.
The original and now famous sausage was part of a baby gift pack to infielder Kyle Farmer from Cloverdale Foods, which supplies the official bacon of the Twins and Target Field. (Sheboygan Sausage, for the record, has the official bratwurst and sausage.)
Farmer and his family were previously part of a promotion for a Cloverdale breakfast sandwich, and he and his wife welcomed their second son earlier this year.
“As huge baseball fans ourselves, we truly understand and respect the elements of superstition and luck,” said Cloverdale vice president of marketing Leigh Milander. “The belief that our Cloverdale Tangy Summer Sausage is somehow magically influencing hits is a huge honor.”
The Twins are no stranger to unique home-run celebrations. Last season, they brought a fishing vest and toy fishing pole to the dugout, a nod to the state’s 10,000 lakes.
This version was by their side when they completed that four-game sweep of the White Sox, totaled 32 runs and 45 hits to win three straight against the Los Angeles Angels and then recorded a three-game sweep of the White Sox in Chicago.
“The season’s too grueling and baseball’s too hard of a sport to not have fun once in a while, right?” Jeffers said.
Associated Press freelancer writer Sarah Effress in Chicago contributed.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Minnesota Twins' Ryan Jeffers runs after hitting a two-run double during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Minnesota Twins players celebrate after the Twins defeated the Chicago White Sox 10-5 in a baseball game in Chicago, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Minnesota Twins' Willi Castro (50) is congratulated in the dugout after scoring off a single hit by Ryan Jeffers during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Minnesota Twins left fielder Austin Martin, center fielder Byron Buxton and right fielder Max Kepler, from left, celebrate the team's win against the Los Angeles Angels in a baseball game, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Minnesota Twins celebrate a win over the Los Angeles Angels in a baseball game Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The Minnesota Twins celebrate after their win over the Los Angeles Angels in a baseball game, Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
A sausage, left, is held up as Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton, top right, enters the dugout after scoring on a single by Max Kepler during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
A Minnesota Twins fan holds a sausage before a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Chicago. The Twins recently began passing around summer sausages in the dugout. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
