THOMSON --- A Hephzibah woman has been arrested in connection with the death of another woman whose body was found in 2006 by deer hunters in rural McDuffie County.
Antonia "Toni" Renee Lowe, 33, of the 2800 block of Brentway Drive, Hephzibah, was taken into custody before 5 p.m. Wednesday by the McDuffie County Sheriff's Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
GBI Special Agent Teddy Jackson met with McDuffie County Chief Magistrate Judge William Swan on Thursday and drew up a warrant charging Ms. Lowe with murder in the case of Lula Bell Scott.
Authorities said the victim and her daughter Clareece Billings were living with Ms. Lowe at the time Ms. Scott was reported missing to Thomson police by her daughter on Sept. 1. 2006.
Police believe Ms. Scott was struck by a Ford Expedition during the incident, but would not say why Ms. Lowe and Ms. Scott might have been out on the rural road where the victim was found.
GBI officials credited a story that appeared in The McDuffie Mirror in May with helping break the case.
Ms. Lowe, who was a substitute lunchroom worker at a Richmond County school, is at the McDuffie County Law Enforcement Center in Thomson.
BACKGROUND: The badly decomposed body of Lula Bell Scott, of Hephzibah, was found in November in the woods of southern McDuffie County by three hunters. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Thomson office began investigating the case. Ms. Scott, 48, had been reported missing by her daughter two months before the remains were discovered.
DEVELOPMENTS:
- Troopers with the Georgia State Patrol Special Collision Reconstruction Team in Gainesville assisted in determining what type of vehicle -- a Ford Expedition -- might have been involved.
- A news story appeared in The McDuffie Mirror in May, and GBI officials received information on the case.
- On Wednesday, Antonia "Toni" Renee Lowe, of Hephzibah, was charged with Ms. Scott's death.
-- Associated Press
icon.
