After 11 years, mystery still surrounds disappearance of Nicholson man Josh Adams

What happened to Josh Adams 11 years ago in Jackson County?

The answer remains unknown. Despite a reward offer from the family that has risen over the years from $10,000 to $100,000, the mystery has only deepened.

Adams, who resided in Nicholson, was 25 years old when his father reported him missing on May 21, 2013.

On the same day, a deputy dispatched to check on loose cows along Brockton Loop Road outside Jefferson discovered Adam’s 2009 Chevrolet Malibu. The car was abandoned in a pasture in a low area that couldn’t be seen from the road. A Jackson County sheriff’s incident report shows that inside the Malibu was Adams’ wallet with driver’s license and $25 cash, along with his cell phone.

But Adams was nowhere to be found.

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Possible drug connections

Adams’ sister, Shannon Burrell, said her family has pursued the matter over the years by passing out fliers, hiring a private detective, keeping in touch with law enforcement, and increasing the reward. Investigators in the sheriff’s office have changed over the years and a new team of investigators recently inherited the case.

Burrell believes there is evidence that needs to be more closely investigated in regards to her brother’s movements and conversations in the days before he went missing.

From the outset of the case, it was known that Adams had a serious addiction to cocaine. Less than two weeks before he disappeared, he was released from a drug rehabilitation unit in Michigan.

But when he returned home, Burrell said it was not long before she suspected her brother was again using drugs.

The preliminary investigation

The investigation report shows that Adams removed a check from his father’s checkbook without permission and cashed it for $400 at a bank in Commerce on May 20, the day before he disappeared.

Burrell says the calls history and texts on the cell phone on May 20 indicate he was contacting people reputed to deal or use drugs. Although not confirmed, she suspects he may have been trying to get money to pay off a dealer.

Adams’ car was found on property owned by his uncle. Adams didn’t frequent the property and was not known to visit it, she said. Some chicken houses there were used as storage for materials his father used in his business.

On the day the cell phone was recovered deputy Thomas Duncan called two of the numbers. One person refused to give his address, but said he spoke to Adams at about 9 a.m. May 20, according to the report. The other person, who lives in Athens, denied hearing from him and hung up the phone.

Three days after the car was found, deputies returned to Brockton Loop Road, where more than a dozen people had gathered for a search of the area. Adams’ tennis shoes were found on the shore of a nearby pond, along with a syringe and a clear baggie, according to the report.

Adams father, Scott Adams, told the officer that he had searched the area previously and “did not see the items before when the area was checked.”

Later the family had the pond drained, but nothing more was located, according to Burrell.

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A strange tip that went nowhere

About five years after the disappearance and as the reward increased, Burrell said a man called the office where her father owns a business.

“They said, ‘We’re scared for our lives. We don’t want the reward money, but we know your heart is still breaking. We want y’all to have peace.' And he told us that Josh was killed. They beat him and didn’t mean to kill him,” she recalled about the conversation that lacked specific details of the alleged crime.

Then the caller claimed Adams’ body was buried on a farm or ranch in the Lavonia area. That call was traced and it was determined to have come from someone who once worked for her father, according to Burrell.

“I don’t know why someone would make that up,” she said about a potential lead that went nowhere.

The cold case unit

Burrell also called the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to reach out to their new cold case unit formed last year.

Burrell said the GBI explained that they can’t open the case because they never had it originally, but they would send a request to Jackson County asking to review the case file. They would review the file and make a report on “everything we think they missed or need to do,” she said.

Last year, the Josh Adams case was turned over to Jackson County sheriff’s Lt. Charlie Timms and investigators Jason Crawford and Ron McPherson.

The sheriff’s office has run down numerous leads over the years, sometimes taking officers into Athens, Madison County, Oglethorpe County and in Lavonia.

Timms said in recent interview that investigators have been looking into the case with the assistance of Athens-Clarke police, the GBI and other agencies.

“In regards to this being an active case, there have been multiple people interviewed and there is also multiple people we need to re-interview,” he said.

Adams’ family − his father, a brother and two sisters − have been steadfast over the years in keeping the case before the public. Besides a Facebook site “Bring Josh Adams Home,” there is a YouTube video, “Where is Josh Adams?” along with a true crime podcast and a video created by 11 Alive TV in Atlanta, both posted on YouTube.

Burrell said she once turned down a television interview “because I needed to take a break from it. It’s really hard mentally.”

“This has changed our whole life,” the sister said. “It’s by the grace of God that me and my dad are doing OK.”  Adams’ mother died a few years after her son disappeared.

“We want this case to be solved,” she said.

The $100,000 reward is “offered to anyone that provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons involved in his disappearance and his discovery."

Information can be left on the sheriff’s office tip line at 706-367-3784.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Mystery surrounds the disappearance of a Jackson County man 11 years ago