Five years after Gainesville High School student Hannah Truelove was found fatally stabbed near Lake Lanier, her death remains a mystery that police expect to one day solve.
“Understand, we never give up,” Lt. Dan Franklin of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently.
Truelove's body was discovered Aug. 24, 2012, in a heavily wooded area between Lake Lanier and the apartment complex where she lived with her mother. Truelove, 16, had been reported missing the previous day and was found with multiple stab wounds, investigators said.
She was last seen hanging out with other teens from the apartment complex. A potential motive for her killing has not been revealed. Police have discounted theories emerging from social media.
>> PHOTOS: A look at Georgia’s cold case files
>> RELATED: Hall County teen’s death a homicide
Those were based on reports that Truelove had been on Twitter shortly before her disappearance, saying she was scared and thought she might be being stalked. Investigators looked into it and dismissed it as “teenage drama type of stuff.”
Rewards were offered. Photos were plastered on billboards, and dozens of people were interviewed. Early on, investigators searched for an older model Dodge or Chevrolet that was possibly in the area when Truelove went missing. But still, there has been no break in the case.
“We have some ideas, but we have to keep that close to the vest,” said Franklin, who has been the lead investigator on the case for the sheriff’s office since 2012.
A GBI agent is also on the case, he said.
>>RELATED: Detectives search for new leads
In the past year, investigators have gone back over all the evidence using technology that’s been developed since 2012, hoping to uncover some new leads, Franklin said.
Investigators still believe the case could turn on someone who is moved by conscience or on someone who may have had a falling out with the killer and come forward, he said.
At a press conference in February 2015, investigators said critical crime scene evidence – including blood from the stabbing — may have been washed away by heavy rains that occurred between Truelove’s disappearance and the discovery of her body.
Credit: Bob Andres
Credit: Bob Andres
Truelove was described by Michael Jackson, her counselor at Gainesville High School, and others as a “gentle spirit” who was “calm, respectful, well-mannered, and just seemed to love life.”
Her mother, Mona Harris, also said Truelove had been developing into a “caring and loving young lady” with a bright mind and great sense of humor.
“Hannah was a very unique individual in the best way,” her mother has said.
In 2013, Harris said family and friends had been "living a nightmare" since her daughter's death.
She pleaded for information from the public and said she is haunted by Hannah’s death, “as any mother can understand”.
“Please help my family by coming forward with your information, even if that information is about your son or daughter,” Harris said at the time. “I feel sure you know they can’t come to grips with Hannah’s death until they are truthful about what happened to Hannah.”
Franklin has told reporters he keeps a Nintendo DS close so Hannah Truelove’s case will always be on his mind.
A Nintendo DS was “how she was last communicating,” he said.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
About the Author
