Terry Eugene Rouse, 24, disappeared in the early morning hours of May 11, 1991, after attending a party on Swamp Road, the remote route toward the Okefenokee Swamp. A witness last saw him around 3 a.m., sleeping inside his light blue Ford Thunderbird; the witness woke Rouse before leaving and later reported headlights had followed them along Swamp Road into Waycross before turning off. Rouse was never heard from again.

Later that same day a Georgia state trooper found Rouse’s Thunderbird near the entrance to Okefenokee Swamp Park with the engine idling, the radio playing, a window rolled down, an empty gas tank and a weak battery. His clothes, snakeskin boots, a carton of cigarettes, a lighter, and a single full bottle of beer were inside. A local sheriff’s deputy initially saw no sign of foul play and the car was returned to the family without forensic collection, a decision that became controversial as the case went cold.

Years later suspicion focused on his cousin and co-worker Craig Lester Thrift. New witnesses said Thrift confessed to killing Rouse, alleging an assault and shooting motivated by an affair. Thrift was arrested in March 2012 and later convicted of felony murder; Rouse’s body has never been found. Does anyone have memories of that night on Swamp Road or information about Rouse’s last known movements?