Jeremy Keith Abbott

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Marion County Sheriffs Office (AL)

Death Location:

Haleyville, AL

Summary:

Jeremy Abbott was last seen alive on June 16, 2017. His body was found hanging from a tree over a month later on July 21, 2017. Even though there were countless suspicious circustances surrounding his disappearnace and death, his death was ruled a suicide before his body was removed from the scene that day. No autopsy was done and there are indications that his death was determined to be a suicide without the coroner ever even coming to the scene to view the body as required by law.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Death:

Friends of Jeremy's claimed he was last seen at Josh Hyde's home on Benefield Farm Road. According to Jeremy's family, Josh told at least 2 different versions of a story regarding when he last saw Jeremy. One version was that Jeremy was arguing with his girlfriend and she was on her way to pick him up. He said Jeremy said he was going outside to wait for her and he never saw him again. In another version, he allegedly stated that Jeremy got upset communicating with his girlfriend on his phone and he suddenly jumped up and ran out of the home into the woods to never be seen again. When Jeremy's mom realized he was missing and began to contact his friends, Josh Hyde sent Jeremy's mom a message that said, "go ahead and file a report because Jeremy isn't ever coming home again." Jeremy was later found just 30-40 feet into the wood line where this man was living. If Jeremy killed himself, why not just say that? How did he know Jeremy was never coming home again? 33 days later, Jeremy's body was found hanging from a tree by a size 36 men's belt. Jeremy didn't wear belts and weighed approximately 140 lbs so it definitely couldn't have been his belt. If he was hung by a size 36 mens belt, where did he get the belt? To further confuse the matter, the day Jeremy was found, his mom was told 2 different stories about what he was hung with. While one law enforcement agency correctly told her it was a size 36 men's belt, another law enforcement agency told Jeremy's mom that he hung himself with a belt off a car. Jeremy was reportedly found hanging from the lowest limb on a pine tree and that limb was estimated by one officer on the scene to be 18-20 feet high. It’s questionable that a man would be able to scale a tree of that height and hang himself with a clothing belt. It isn't physically possible for a man to climb 18-20 feet up to the lowest limb of a pine tree and hang himself with a belt off a car. Why are there 2 different stories by the 2 different law enforcement agencies on the scene that day?

Additional Details:

Please take a minute to read the details as they are shocking and quite compelling. Jeremy's death lead to the disappearance and likely murder of a beautiful young mother, Jessica Hamby. It was Jessica who told law enforcement where to find Jeremy. Not only does Jeremy’s death deserve a proper and thorough investigation for Jeremy and his loved ones, but the disappearance of Jessica Hamby will not likely be solved until the true reason behind her disappearance and murder is acknowledged. Jessica Hamby, who disappeared 5 1/2 months later to never be found, told law enforcement where to find Jeremy's body. Jessica was scared. She told many people that Jeremy was murdered and that she knew who did it. She was promised protection by law enforcement in exchange for the information she gave but they did not provide it. If Jeremy committed suicide, why was a promise of protection even needed? Why was Jessica scared if he killed himself? While the investigating agency claims that Jessica didn't tell law enforcement where to find Jeremy, she did, it has been confirmed multiple times by multiple people with the law enforcement officer she told. There were also witnesses to some of this who have corroborated these events. Once Jeremy was reported missing, there were countless people who made false statements about seeing Jeremy alive. More than one of those people admitted, even to law enforcement, that they were forced and threatened to make those false statements by Jesse Abbott, Jeremy Abbott's cousin. Jesse Abbott was also reportedly pretending to be Jeremy to try to fool people into believing that they saw Jeremy. The man who last reported to see Jeremy alive stated he walked off with his phone. A man named Juan Ortega got caught red handed with Jeremy’s phone while he was still missing and he was trying to guess the password to access it. When forced to give the phone to Jeremy’s mom, Juan cried and stated that they were going to kill him. Juan then abruptly and unexpectedly moved to Texas and to our knowledge, has never returned. If Jeremy simply walked into the woods and killed himself by hanging himself 18-20 feet up in a tree, how did Juan Ortega gain possession of Jeremy’s phone? Jeremy is said to have been found hanging in a tree in clear view to numerous people on a daily basis for 33 days per law enforcement in the exact place he was reported to law enforcement to last be seen. How did those people not see him? Not smell him? Not find him? Not even look for him? Officers on the scene told us that Jeremy was located because the investigator and officer could smell him when they reached the edge of the woods. The odor was described to us as being quite strong. If you remember, Kimberly also described how awful the smell was when she went to the funeral home to view his body. This is extremely significant. We had our own thoughts and suspicions about this so we consulted with a qualified physician. He pointed us to The Forensics Library and an article that describes the 5 steps of decomposition of human remains. This article was very informative and it noted the average time each of these stages last. 24+ days after death is considered to be the dry stage. It is the final stage of decomposition and the article notes that in this stage, the human remains are primarily just bones, a little dried skin and cartilage. It states that there is typically NO odor at this stage. Jeremy was found 32 days after he was reported missing but the investigators indicated they believed he had been dead since at least one day prior to that so Jeremy had been deceased 33 days at the time he was found. The decomposition rate is often greatly impacted by temperature and environment. Lower temperatures can slow decomposition but warm temperatures accelerate those timelines. Alabama weather in June and July is hot and humid so Jeremy would have decomposed much more quickly than the timeframes noted. To sum it up, if Jeremy had been hanging in that tree for 33 days, the strong odor described by our sources on the scene would not have been present. This is something that investigators and a coroner conducting death investigations would be expected to know. We have consulted with several doctors and others with experience in death investigations. While none can rule it out, most found it unlikely that Jeremy would have still been hanging from that tree limb 33 days later in the Alabama summer heat and humidity. It's not impossible but very unlikely. Jeremy’s mother was contacted by a law enforcement officer that was on the scene when Jeremy’s body was found and asked what funeral home she wanted him taken to. That would indicate that no foul play was suspected and there would be no autopsy, and that decision was made prior to the body leaving the scene. No autopsy was conducted. The county coroner’s records were never turned over to his successor, as required by Alabama Law (36-12-4). The coroner’s records do not reflect that an external examination was performed, there are no notes or description of clothing, bruising, other wounds, or the instrument used to hang the body. No photographs were received with the coroner’s records. There are no notes or reports of persons interviewed at the scene, no sketch or photographs of the scene, etc.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 16, 2024