Debbie Griffin, 20, disappeared on November 2, 1974, while hitchhiking near Macon, Georgia, in the company of 23-year-old Edward Hilliard. Hilliard’s body was found in a wooded area near Macon shortly after their disappearance; Griffin remained missing for months and her fate was unknown to her family until human remains identified as hers were located on August 29, 1975, in Crawford County southwest of Macon.

Their disappearances occurred during the crime spree of escaped prisoner Paul John Knowles, who by November 1974 had been linked to numerous abductions, sexual assaults, robberies and killings across several states. The two victims vanished while Knowles was known to be traveling through Georgia, and investigators noted similarities between their case and other crimes attributed to him. The separate recovery sites for Hilliard and Griffin suggested the killer transported or abandoned victims in different locations.

Knowles was captured November 17, 1974, but was shot and killed by a GBI agent on December 18, 1974, before he could stand trial for Griffin’s death. He had recorded confessions on tapes that were later damaged and destroyed, and no other suspect was arrested or prosecuted in the deaths of Griffin and Hilliard. Does anyone have information about Griffin’s last movements or who might have seen her hitchhiking that day?