On April 7, 2018, law enforcement in the Dixie community of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, responded to a home where George Ralph Howe Jr. was found dead of a single gunshot wound. At the scene, investigators were initially told the death was a suicide, and the case remained unresolved as detectives continued to question that explanation.

The investigation stayed open for years until the Forrest County Sheriff’s Office joined a task force that provided advanced digital forensic capability. Data recovered from an electronic device that had previously been inaccessible was described by authorities as key evidence that refuted the initial suicide narrative and supported criminal charges.

On July 20, 2023, 75-year-old Harriet Mooney Howe, the victim’s wife, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder; bond was set at $1 million. Does anyone in the Dixie or Hattiesburg area have information about George Howe Jr. or the events of April 2018 that could help investigators?