Fred Edward Simmons, 43, was killed after giving a ride to two hitchhikers in November 1973. Simmons and his companion, Bob Durwood Moore, picked up Troy Leon Gregg, 25, and a 16-year-old youth in Florida and drove north into Georgia. On November 21, 1973, after a stop in Gwinnett County, Gregg shot both men to steal their car and cash; Simmons was shot in the head and Moore suffered two gunshot wounds. Their bodies were found in a drainage ditch.

A third hitchhiker who had been dropped off earlier in Atlanta read about the murders and contacted police, which led to the arrest of Gregg and his companion in Asheville, North Carolina, on November 24, 1973. Gregg was found with the victims’ car and a .25-caliber automatic pistol later tied to the killings. He was tried and convicted in Gwinnett County and sentenced to death in 1974. His case, Gregg v. Georgia, reached the U.S. Supreme Court and played a central role in restoring the death penalty nationally.

Did anyone who knew Simmons or Moore in Georgia or Florida in 1973 see them that week or remember the car they were driving?