They Know Where You're Sleeping/Still Missing

Several readers have asked how local law enforcement knew where to find Eddie Collins and his wife. We have no inside information as to how it was determined where Collins was, but we do know one has to present a picture ID when checking into a hotel/motel. If the couple had been there for weeks, not on any obvious business, there’s a good chance a clerk became suspicious and asked Killen police to check them out.

We’ve also heard several people comment how unusual a case it was. No, not really. Take a look at the most wanted in your home county. How many are wanted for serious crimes? How many are removed from the list in a short...or long…period of time? Just as this Florida fugitive sought to hide in the Shoals, you can safely bet several Shoals fugitives are hiding around the country as you read this.

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Back in the late 1800s a local elementary school class visited the offices of what was then the Florence Times. The class was told reading the newspaper was the best way to add to one’s vocabulary. Does that apply today?

We’re not sure it applied even then, but it certainly doesn’t now. Someone needs to tell Tom Smith what “mitigating” means. No, mitigating circumstances don’t make a situation worse.

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Anyone out there really want to improve your vocabulary? Pick up a cheap used copy of a SAT tutorial; it contains more words than you can shake a long, wooden object at.

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Missing from the Shoals? As of now we have three missing persons in the past four weeks: Robert DeShawn Childers, Chance Southern, and Savannah Clever. There’s also Jansen Brewer from Lawrenceburg. Two are teens and will probably pop up at some point. Two are adults and are possibly endangered.

Yes, every area has its demons.

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No More Demons for Florence?

It seems the Facebook page of Eddie Eugene Collins had no restrictions; in other words, anyone could post on it and many did. There were family members who either pleaded for Collins to surrender for the sake of his wife and children or commented he had made bad decisions so there was nothing to be done.

Then there was the local DJ who wanted an on-air interview during mid siege. Yeah…real classy KISS 102. What was he going to ask? "How does it feel to put a gun to your wife’s head?”

Yet the most commented on comment was from a woman who chastised Collins for bringing his “demons” to Florence. True, each city has enough local demons without all those Florida ones popping in for a visit. How did Collins even arrive in Florence/Killen? By all accounts, he was a user, not a dealer. At least where drugs were concerned; he had a July 2015 arrest for pimping out his wife. How does someone fall that far?

This makes two women in one week who are now dead due to the actions of the men in their lives. There is a lesson here, ladies. Yes, it can be you if you allow it to happen.

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So Jeb Bush is joining the Jay Z tour? Yes, he doesn’t like it if you call women bad names since he has granddaughters. Uh, Jeb, what about your mother, wife, and daughter? Was it okay to call them a “witch” or other derogatory names? Your friend Jay Z wised up when he had a daughter, so he’s ahead of you there.

Conclusions? Will Queen Elizabeth take the colonies back?

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