The Marion County Vortex: Why Are So Many People Missing In Northwest Alabama?

A couple days ago The Justice Voice published a post about the disappearance of Justin Kyle Lovett — a young man who vanished from Hamilton, Alabama close to a year ago. Over the course of researching Justin’s case, it became sickeningly apparent that the area surrounding Marion County, Alabama is a vortex of missing and possibly murdered people. What’s more, it looks like the only people doing legwork in finding these missing people are their loved ones, many of whom lack the resources to do so. What in the world is going on in Northwest Alabama, and why are so many missing and suspiciously deceased people slipping through the cracks?

The population of Marion County, Alabama is only 29, 246 people. This small population is widely dispersed throughout six towns and the rural areas surrounding them. Don’t let the population fool you, though. It appears the crime rate is increasing, and the amount of missing people in the region far outnumbers what’s actually reported or even acknowledged by local law enforcement. So why are so many people missing without so much as a BOLO alert or mention on social media? And why are the discoveries of remains going with no updates or information behind the discoveries? Something stinks in Marion County, Alabama — and the surrounding rural areas as well.

Joshua James Gray

Joshua James Gray vanished around May 14, 2011 From Haleyville, Alabama. He was 27-years-old at the time, standing at 5’6-7″ and approximately 170 lbs., with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. There are very few details available about his disappearance, including the circumstances of how he may have disappeared. There don’t appear to be any police alerts about his disappearance either. When you look up this missing Alabama man’s name, the only person you see advocating for him is his mother, Angela Gray. It’s been over a decade since anyone has seen or heard from Joshua, so why haven’t police in the area done even the bare minimum to even alert people that a member of their community is missing? There is not even a NAMUS profile for this missing man.

Zach Pike

When Zach Pike went missing in 2018, authorities in Marion County, Alabama did indeed put out alerts notifying people of his disappearance. However, very little else was done beyond the initial missing persons alert issued by authorities. The only people in this missing man’s corner were his loved ones — which appears to be a common theme in Marion County. In 2020, human remains were found around Clifty Creek in Hackleburg, and they were identified as Zach Pike’s. Police called it a suicide, but loved ones and friends say that they don’t believe the cause of death was appropriately examined.

Jeremy Abbot

Jeremy Abbot disappeared from the Haleyville area in 2017, and his body was found hanging from a tree several months later. Police were very quick to rule it a suicide, but his loved ones believe that the investigation into his death was mishandled. The family says there was no autopsy or coroner report for their son’s death. They say there are also too many connections with other missing people in the area. For example, it was missing mother Jessica Hamby who told police exactly where to find his body just before she-too disappeared. Furthermore, it’s been confirmed officially that authorities in Northwest Alabama did not conduct an autopsy on the young man. The Marion County Sheriff says that he’s confident it was a suicide, but if you look at how his department handles pretty much every disappearance and death in the county, his confidence appears to border on negligent in the least.

Jessica Hamby

Jessica Hamby disappeared very shortly after showing authorities where to find the body of Jeremy Abbot. Fortunately, police in Haleyville did alert the public to her disappearance, but the course of the past five years has been one of little to no movement. That’s troubling considering the connection between Hamby and Jeremy Abbot. Jessica disappeared from an area between Hackleburg and Hamilton called Elgin Cochran Road. The father of the missing woman has declared publicly that she went to a specific residence on that road before vanishing. He said going to that house was “the worst decision she ever made in her life.” There are several bad characters surrounding this disappearance — and many of them are intertwined in the lives of other missing people, including those who died and were ruled (possibly negligently) as suicides.

Corrupt cops and mishandling of cases?

People who live in the towns of Hackleburg and Hamilton, Alabama have a lot of mixed opinions on the law enforcement entrusted to “protect and serve” in their community. This is because so many of them feel that the law enforcement in their area is either corrupt or lazy. In 2019, a former Hamilton and Guin Police officer by the name of Tim Walter was arrested on drug charges, after he was caught selling drugs in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot. The officer was trading illicit substances for opiates. He was also apparently under the influence of substances with a child in his custody. During the same year, a DOC officer named Wendell Shane Swinney, from Hackleburg, was arrested on charges of child solicitation. The 47-year-old DOC officer was caught passing notes to a male juvenile at a local fitness center, which said “text me, cutie.” He was arrested after law enforcement posed as the juvenile and arranged a meetup via text with him. Of course, the pervert showed up, and he got arrested.

In 2015, Bear Creek Police Officer Carl Nathan Weeks, Jr., was arrested on charges associated with child sex crimes. He was indicted on six counts of second degree sexual abuse, three counts of first degree sexual abuse and one count of rape.

In 2020 a Haleyville police officer was charged with an ethics violation and arrested in relation to work he did as a probation officer. The man was accused of using his position as a means to get sexual gratification and gain. It’s alleged that his victims were people on parole and probation.

The list could continue if you included the ever-churning rumor mill in Marion County.

What can be done?

What can be done to prevent missing people from slipping through the cracks of justice? The odds are stacked against the loved ones of these missing and possibly murdered people, and some members of the community in Marion County say they’re often silenced by fear of retaliation. When you’re in a small town full of missing people and police who do nothing about it, you tend to feel powerless and alone. Hopefully some bigger, more powerful eyes fall on articles like these so that positive change can take place.