William Gerald Hodges was a 49-year-old school teacher found dead of a gunshot in his car at a Valdosta, Georgia truck stop on July 10, 1980. Ballistics later tied the fatal .38-caliber revolver to other killings that day.

Authorities connected the slaying to truck driver William Howard Putman, who was arrested the same day after the murders of David and Katie Hardin at an Interstate 75 rest area near Lenox, Georgia. Investigators recovered the .38-caliber revolver plus Hodges’ personal items — his insurance card, a watch, and two rings — in Putman’s truck. Putman was convicted for Hodges’ murder and received a life sentence.

Does anyone have memories of Hodges, or information about his life in Valdosta before July 10, 1980?