FBI: New DNA Evidence Found in Lake Oconee Murders, $20,000 Reward Announced – 41NBC News

As the 10th anniversary of the Lake Oconee murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond approaches, FBI Atlanta revealed a possible break in the case.

EATONTON, Ga. (41NBC/WMGT) — In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Lake Oconee murders of Russell and Shirley Dermond approaches, FBI Atlanta revealed a possible breakthrough in the case. For the first time, DNA evidence has been discovered that does not belong to the victims, officers announced in a press release on Thursday.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from FBI Atlanta and other agencies, has led the investigation since the couple was found murdered.

FBI Atlanta Special Agent Andy Smith, who has been on the case for nearly a decade, says DNA evidence was found at the crime scene and is currently being analyzed.

“This is the first time we’ve had confirmation of a sample that didn’t belong to Russell or Shirley Dermond,” Smith said. “If the sample is good enough, which we will know very soon, we can put that into CODIS, a national database, to potentially identify an individual.”

Smith says Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills has been “very adamant” and “confident that we are going to solve this case.”

“I agree with him 100%,” Smith said. “We never stop searching. We continue to try to identify who committed this crime.”

FBI Atlanta also announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the murders.

“This is a crime that has truly impacted a beautiful community in central Georgia,” Smith said. “And it has had an effect on the sheriff’s office there, the investigators. It was such a heinous crime. It’s actually a combination of events that has allowed this case to remain unsolved, especially given the amount of work people have put into it.”

“We are not failing, so we will continue to look for these individuals,” Smith continued. “As I said before, we are not giving up. There are hundreds of thousands of examples of FBI and state and local cases where we take as much time as we need to solve the crime. We don’t stop. We never stop.”