Evidence analysed by the FBI could help cops finally solve a grisly murder in which a husband was found decapitated and a wife at the bottom of a lake.
Russell Dermond, 88, was found dead in May 2014 by a neighbour who had stopped by their $1 million home in Atlanta, Georgia after not hearing from them for several days.
His decapitated body was found in a garage surrounded by towels, put in place to stop blood from escaping under the door and rousing suspicion, and gun residue on his body.
A coroner later said he was dead before his head, which was never found, was removed.
The body of his 87-year-old wife, Shirley, was found by fishermen ten days later in nearby Lake Oconee, weighed down with heavy cinder blocks.
The eight-year-old cold case could finally have answers as the county sheriff received new information discovered by the FBI, says Fox5.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said: “"Just last week I received some data, primarily cell phone data, that we have been waiting on for some time. That data was downloaded into a program the FBI has and they are assisting us in analyzing the data now.
"The technology we are using was not in existence back in 2014. I don’t want to create an impression that I have acquired some silver bullet, but this is yet another tool we are using trying to find out who perpetrated these heinous crimes.
"What we need more than anything is for someone to call us and tell us who is responsible for this savagery."
The sheriff added the case is one which he often thinks about.
The couple, from Georgia, US, had been due to attend a Kentucky Derby party in the days before they were found dead.
The had three surviving children and nine grandchildren, all of whom were cleared of their shocking murders.
Son Keith, 55, told Mail Online at the time: “”We are completely devastated, the thought of her suffering is just unbearable.
“Each hour that goes by, my brother, my sister and me are becoming more resigned to the fact that we may never see her again and we may never know what happened.
“Whoever did this was so sick in the head that I just can’t imagine it.”
The couple’s other son, Mark, was shot in 2000 in a drug deal gone wrong.
Police have ruled out any links between his violent death and his parents' deaths.
