Chambers County officials announced Thursday that autopsy results have confirmed a Lanett woman found dead alongside her boyfriend earlier this week died from strangulation. The deceased have been identified as 47-year-old Jessica Folds of Lanett and 44-year-old Daniel Robbins of Macon, Georgia. Chambers County District Attorney Mike Segrest confirmed that the pair were in a dating relationship at the time of their deaths, which have been classified as a murder-suicide scenario by investigators.
Authorities now believe Robbins strangled Folds and was in the process of moving her body when he suffered a sudden heart attack, which proved fatal at the scene. This theory emerged following a review of the autopsy findings and evidence collected from the discovery site.
The grim scene unfolded on Wednesday afternoon when Chambers County deputies were dispatched to a wooded area near County Road 86, just off Highway 50 in Lanett. Dispatchers received a call at 12:20 p.m. from an individual who reported spotting two unresponsive people in the brush close to the roadway. Upon arrival, deputies discovered Folds and Robbins lying near one another, partially obscured by dense vegetation.
Sheriff Jeff Nelson indicated that investigators do not believe the wooded site was where the killing originally occurred. Instead, they suspect it was the location where Robbins intended to dispose of Folds’ body. A Ford pickup truck was found abandoned nearby in the roadway, its headlights still illuminated and the driver’s door left wide open. Investigators believe these details suggest the scene was interrupted mid-act, supporting the theory of Robbins' sudden incapacitation.
Further observations at the scene lent credence to the investigators' hypothesis. Deputies noted that Folds’ hands were positioned above her head when she was found, while Robbins’ body was curled into a fetal position directly beside her. A visible drag path leading to the bodies provided additional evidence, suggesting the remains had been transported to that specific location rather than the killing taking place there.
Remarkably, the individual who first discovered the scene and contacted authorities initially mistook the bodies for mannequins, highlighting the unusual and unexpected nature of the discovery. Jessica Folds lived only a short distance from where her body was ultimately found, indicating she was within her own community at the time of her death. Daniel Robbins, conversely, was not a local resident; he had traveled to Alabama from south Georgia prior to the incident. His ex-wife later informed investigators that Robbins had a documented history of heart problems, a detail that aligns with the official account of his sudden collapse.
At the request of the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office, special agents with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) State Bureau of Investigation were called in to initiate a formal death investigation. ALEA has since assumed the role of the lead agency on the case, operating in coordination with local deputies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
As of Thursday, authorities have not publicly disclosed a potential motive behind the killing or provided detailed information regarding what led to the fatal encounter between the couple. No additional suspects have been named, and investigators have given no indication that anyone other than Robbins is considered responsible for Folds’ death. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has not yet announced a timetable for the completion of the investigation or when further updates will be released to the public. Officials maintain that the case remains open as agents continue their work to reconstruct the events that preceded the discovery of both bodies along the rural roadway.
