Georgia police have not yet publicly identified any suspects in the search for whoever killed Debbie Collier, a 59-year-old real estate office manager who police found stripped naked, burned and dumped at the bottom of a hill in the woods a day after her family reported her missing earlier this month.
Amanda Bearden, Collier’s 36-year-old daughter, and husband Steven Collier filed a missing person report on Sept. 10 after the daughter said she received a Venmo payment of $2,385 and a cryptic message reading: "They are not going to let me go love you there is a key to the house in the blue flowerpot by the door."
The next day, investigators in Habersham County found her dead a quarter-mile off a rural highway where her rented Chrysler Pacifica had been abandoned.
Bearden, who Fox News Digital has learned is well-known to her hometown police department, has a rap sheet going back more than a decade for numerous domestic violence calls, involving different men with whom she has been romantically involved.
In 2008, prosecutors dismissed an obstruction charge related to a domestic call to her apartment after she successfully completed a six-month pretrial intervention program, court documents show. Police found her with a six-inch scratch on her face after they said witnesses told them "a female was being beat up by a male inside."
Investigators determined that the injury was "a few days old" and saw no new injuries on her arms, neck or face. "[The witness] said there had been reports that the female had been coming in late to work with bruises," according to the report. Police arrested her then-boyfriend.
Bearden faced charges twice in 2012, in June and November, for allegedly battering a different ex-boyfriend and criminal trespassing.
In the domestic violence case, the victim told responding officers she attacked him after a dispute "about him working third shift and them not having much time together." Police found him with "raised scratch marks on his chest and back, and hand prints on both arms." She also broke his Xbox 360 "Call of Duty" game disc, according to the report. They had been living together for two months.
She had her probation revoked the next year. It was not immediately clear whether she had an attorney Friday.
Then in 2021, after a row with current boyfriend Andrew Giegerich, police charged her with falsely reporting a crime – however prosecutors ultimately dropped the case.
They went after Giegerich on charges that included battery and property damage, and he pleaded guilty. The responding officer initially wrote down a burglary charge, but after allegedly catching Bearden in a lie, said there was no longer evidence to support it.
It’s not clear when the couple first began dating, but Giegerich’s criminal record in Clarke County appears to begin in 2020, with domestic battery and disorderly conduct charges involving Bearden. He pleaded guilty to three counts and received a sentence of probation.
The following year, he faced new domestic charges involving Bearden, pleading guilty again and serving 10 days in jail and more time on probation. He violated an order of protection at least once but prosecutors dropped the charges. He violated probation again in August, court records show, and was sent to jail for six days last week. He was out by Friday when Fox News Digital photographed him with Bearden in her driveway.
In January, he pleaded guilty to reckless driving after a DUI arrest.
DEBBIE COLLIER MURDER: GEORGIA WOMAN REVEALED BLACK EYE AFTER 2020 ‘FALL’
On Sept. 4, 2021, police arrived at Bearden's home and encountered Giegerich outside. Bodycam video obtained by Fox News Digital shows a long exchange, in which he discussed her alleged drug use and claimed she was stealing money from his paychecks on a weekly basis because he let her link his account to her phone before they split up.
"She’s probably on drugs now," he told police outside the home, minutes before they handcuffed him.
He was arrested for violating an order of protection.
Once in cuffs, he could be heard telling the arresting officers that it wasn't fair. At moments, he broke into tears, begging to be allowed to go home and asking for a chance to speak with Bearden. When officers finally relented and told him they'd ask her if that was OK, they came back a moment later and told him she didn't want to speak.
Throughout the encounter, police repeatedly told him he couldn't be on Bearden's property in violation of the order and that he needed to seek relief in civil court if she had been stealing his money.
Giegerich’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The couple appears to have since reconciled and arrived at the house together Friday.
The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation into Collier’s murder, had not yet publicly identified any suspects or persons of interest in the case as of Friday evening.
