Authorities concluded the suspect suffered a fatal heart attack while dragging the victim into a wooded area.
Chambers County, Alabama sheriff’s deputies responding to a report of two unresponsive people found a man and a woman dead in the brush along County Road 86 in Lanett on June 24, their bodies lying next to each other.
Investigators have since determined the deaths followed a chilling sequence: 44-year-old Daniel Robbins strangled his girlfriend, 47-year-old Jessica Folds, then suffered a fatal heart attack while attempting to dispose of her body in the wooded area where both were found.
Deputies were dispatched to the scene off Highway 50 at 12:20 p.m. after a passerby called 911, initially mistaking the bodies for mannequins. A truck was parked in the road with its headlights still on and the driver’s side door open. Chambers County Sheriff Jeff Nelson said a drag path was visible leading to where the bodies lay, and investigators believe the location was a drop site rather than where the killing occurred. Deputies found Folds with her hands raised above her head and Robbins beside her in a fetal position.
Autopsy results released the following day confirmed Folds had been strangled. Officials said the findings, combined with the scene evidence, led investigators to conclude that Robbins killed Folds and was actively dragging her body into the woods when his heart gave out. His ex-wife told investigators he had a preexisting heart condition.
Folds, of Lanett, lived just a few miles from where her body was found. Robbins was from Macon, Georgia, more than 90 miles away. Chambers County District Attorney Mike Segrest confirmed Robbins was Folds’ boyfriend.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation took over the case at the request of the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office and continues to investigate with assistance from the sheriff’s office and the FBI. The case remains open, though officials have not indicated charges will follow given Robbins’ death.
Folds is survived by three sons and two grandchildren. Her obituary described her as a woman with a “heart of gold” and a “deep love for everyone.”
