Murdered Georgia mom Debbie Collier ‘calmly’ shopped less than 24 hours before her body was found

Cops have released video footage of the last known sighting of murdered Georgia mom Debbie Collier – entering a Family Dollar Store less than 24 hours before her naked and burnt body was discovered in a wooded ravine.

The 59-year-old appeared ‘calm and not in fear of anything’ as she bought several items – some of them later found with her – in footage released by Habersham County Sheriff’s Office.

Collier, a real estate officer manager, is wearing a replica of Herschel Walker’s shirt from his time at the University of Georgia, a blue skirt, what appear to be black boots with slight heels and a red sun visor as she walks into the store in Clayton, Georgia, at 2.55pm on September 10.

She is then seen at the cash register buying a rain poncho, refillable torch lighter, a 2-roll pack of paper towels, a 7.5 x 9.5 tarp, and a reusable tote bag.

 She bought a rain poncho, refillable torch lighter, a 2-roll pack of paper towels, a 7.5 x 9.5 tarp, and a reusable tote bag

Habersham County Sheriff’s office confirmed Collier’s purchases by obtaining a receipt from the Family Dollar storein Clayton, Georgia

Collier leaves the store at 3.09pm. Investigators confirmed the purchases by getting a copy of the receipt, said the sheriff’s office.

Eight minutes after leaving the store, her daughter Amanda Bearden said she received a mysterious message along with nearly $2,400. 

‘In the video, the victim appears to be calm and not in fear of anything,’ said the department. ‘All video footage obtained from the store and surrounding businesses reflect that the victim was alone in the van at the time she visited the store.’

Mention of the ‘van’ is a reference to the black Chrysler Pacifica the mom rented from Enterprise because her own truck was in a repair shop.

Debbie Collier, 59, was found naked and clutching a tree on September 11, the day after she went shopping

The minivan was discovered the next day at the entrance to a densely wooded area off Route 15 close to scenic Tallulah Falls – 60 miles north of where Collier lived in Athens, Georgia, with husband Steve, 67. Clayton is another 12 miles further north of Talulah Falls. 

‘This information allows investigators to narrow the time of death to a window beginning at 3:09 p.m. on Saturday, September 10 to the discovery of the body on Sunday, September 11 at 12:44 p.m,’ said the sheriff’s department.

The baffling horrific death has additionally taken a new twist.

The sheriff’s office also revealed that Collier’s daughter Bearden, 36, was not at the store, as they had been told originally.

‘Over the weekend, investigators were given information that Amanda Bearden was at the Family Dollar Store in Clayton, Georgia on Saturday, September 10,’ it said.

‘An interview of the store clerk on duty on the 10th, in addition to a review of store camera footage, revealed that Ms. Bearden was not at the store on the 10th of September.’

Debbie’s 15 minute visit to the Family Dollar came just before she sent 36-year-old Amanda $2,385 via the Venmo financial app and an eerie message that created speculation of a kidnap. She was discovered, naked and dead, a day later.

The message read: ‘They are not going to let me go, love you there is a key to the house in the blue flower pot by the door.’

‘She was a beautiful woman and I loved her,’ distraught Steve Collier said about his wife 11 days after her charred, naked body was found in a ravine 60 miles from their Georgia home 

Amanda Bearden, 36, leaves her home in Athens, Georgia, on Friday September 23. Police are yet to rule anyone out in the murder of her mother, Debbie Collier

Amanda’s live-in boyfriend, former MMA fighter Andrew Giegerich. He has complained about them being ‘interrogated’ by police 

Collier, 67, picked up his wife’s black pick-up from a repair shop. She was driving a rental at the time of her murder

A close family friend told DailyMail.com: ‘Steve loved Debbie with all his heart. I know that for a fact. I cannot imagine what he’s going through right now’

Collier was reported missing and her rental van was found by police beside the entrance to an old logging road near Victory Home Lane, Clarksville

Her body was discovered some quarter of a mile away. Police reported she was clinging to a small tree, was naked and her body was charred.

A red tote bag was nearby as was a blue tarp, both items she had bought in Clayton. She was found laying next to an area of burnt leaves – a few feet away from an uprooted tree which has its roots burnt.

No one has been arrested for her brutal killing and there is no indication that either Bearden or her boyfriend, Andrew Giegerich, are considered suspects.

Bearden has a history of lying to police and violent lovers tiffs with Giegerich, her live-in, MMA fighter boyfriend who says the pair have been ‘interrogated’ over her mother’s killing.

Police have now ruled out kidnapping and suicide as possible causes of the woman’s death, and are now focused on arresting her killer. 

In May last year, police intervened in the couple’s relationship after Amanda phoned 911, claiming Andrew had ‘broken in’ to the house to beat her.

She showed them photos of bruises on her arms and shoulders to prove it. 

She was however arrested for a falsely reporting a burglary, after police determined he was living in the home and had full access to it.  

Giegerich, 27, was arrested on September 4, 2021, for violating a no-contact order and banging on his on-and-off-again girlfriend ‘s home.

He claimed his Bearden was stealing money for drugs from him and had kicked him out.

The arrest came almost a year before he alleged wrote a threatening handwritten message, contained in police evidence files, stating: ‘If you or your family ever come near me again I will hurt them.

‘Have a nice life you lying a** b**ch. Don’t ever contact me again!!!”

 But they are now back living together in Athens and Giegerich has complained that the pair were recently ‘interrogated’ by police over Debbie’s death. 

Amanda Bearden, 36, (pictured in an unrelated mug shot) called the police because her boyfriend Andrew Giegerich was banging on her door at 8.30am and had broken their no-contact order

Jeffrey Bearden, said his mother’s death was the ”darkest and most harrowing time’ in a statement released on Saturday

Debbie Collier’s son Jeffrey Bearden wrote a heartbreaking tribute to her on Facebook, saying his family’s lives were ‘irrevocably change’ after her death 

In December 2020, Debbie posted these horrific photos of a black eye on Facebook. She told friends she’d ‘faceplanted’ on the sidewalk

‘The [police have] interrogated all of us. The people who are closest to [Collier] are kind of looked at as suspects right now,’ he told the Post.   

On Friday, Debbie’s husband Steve Collier fought back tears as he told DailyMail.com that Debbie was the ‘love of his life.

The couple had been married for nine years and both had children from previous marriages.  

‘It has been a long two weeks and I’m very tired. My wife was a wonderful person,’ he said.

A close friend of the couple, who did not want to be identified, confided to DailyMail.com: ‘Steve loved Debbie with all his heart. I know that for a fact.

‘I cannot imagine what he’s going through right now, with the terrible loss of his wife and having to be part of the murder investigation and all that entails.

‘I have known them both for many years and they were a devoted couple.’

In a direct move of support, he added: ‘I know suspicion can fall on the family of murder victims, but I would bet my life Steve had nothing whatsoever to do with Debbie’s disappearance.’   

Steve Collier appeared frail and had difficulty walking, when DailyMail.com saw him. The murderer would have had a strenuous job dragging or carrying Debbie Collier’s body a quarter of a mile over rough terrain.

On September 10, Steve reported Debbie as missing, claiming that he hadn’t seen her since 9pm the previous night at their home. He said they slept i separate bedrooms because of his heavy snoring.

Neighbors say they heard fighting and screaming coming from the house the night before she vanished.   

Police then tracked the car Debbie had been driving – a rented SUV hired because her own vehicle was undergoing repairs – to a wooded ravine 60 miles from her home. Her naked body was found there, charred and tied to a tree. 

The exact cause of her death remains unconfirmed. 

When questioned, Bearden told police that she last saw her mother the night before she vanished, and that everything was normal. She received the Venmo message the day her mother was reported missing. 

In an interview with CBS after her mother’s body was found, Amanda appeared shaken and struggling to speak.  

‘My mom was my everything. Somebody took my whole world from me. She was a beautiful, kind, giving woman. She didn’t deserve this,’ she said, her head and hands shaking.