Debbie Collier case: Georgia woman's mysterious fire death ruled suicide
Debbie Collier was found dead and naked on Sept. 11 in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest south of Clayton, Georgia
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The death of Debbie Collier, the Georgia woman whose body was found under suspicious circumstances, has been ruled a suicide more than two months after her body was discovered, Fox News has learned.
Collier, a 59-year-old officer manager from Athens, died from "inhalation of superheated gases and thermal injuries and hydrocodone intoxication," a source confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Collier was found dead and naked on Sept. 11 in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest south of Clayton, a 90-minute drive from her home in Athens. Her husband, Steven Collier, reported her missing around 6 p.m. the previous day. She was a discovered a few feet downhill from the site of a small fire, with burns on her stomach, soot in her nostrils and clutching at a small tree.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DEBBIE COLLIER CASE: INVESTIGATORS CONSIDER GEORGIA WOMAN'S DEATH MAY NOT BE HOMICIDE, SOURCES SAY
Collier was last seen alive at a Family Dollar store on Sept. 10, purchasing several items that were found burned near her remains. She also stopped by a Chick-fil-A restaurant beforehand, the sources noted.
When Fox News Digital visited the scene last month, it was evident that at the heart of the burn marks, there were no signs that a wood-fueled fire had been constructed, although several items she was carrying were found scorched on the ground, including a blue tarp she had just purchased and small remnants of the Georgia Bulldogs jersey she was last seen wearing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SLAIN GEORGIA WOMAN DEBBIE COLLIER REMEMBERED AS BELOVED MATRIARCH ‘FILLED WITH JOY AND BEAUTY’
Steven Collier was seen on video between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. working parking cars for the University of Georgia Bulldogs game the day his wife went missing. (Debbie Steve Collier/Facebook)
Law enforcement sources previously told Fox News Digital that investigators had no evidence linking several key people close to Collier, including her husband, daughter and daughter's boyfriend, to locations anywhere near the crime scene between her disappearance on Sept. 10 and the discovery of her remains the following day.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The missing person report came after Collier was found to have sent her daughter a bizarre Venmo payment of almost $2,400 along with the cryptic message: "They are not going to let me go love you there is a key to the house in the blue flowerpot by the door."