Slain Georgia Couple Were Church of God Members

A Georgia couple that went missing on January 22 were active members of the Mount Paran North Church of God in Marietta, Ga. The case, which has made national news, appears to have come to a tragic end as the vehicle the couple was driving was found submerged in a lake and two bodies found nearby.

As of Tuesday afternoon no official announcement had been made by authorities confirming the identity of the bodies, but circumstances surrounding the case pointed to the unfortunate assumption. In addition, a suspect had come forth confessing his involvement in luring the Runions to McRae, Ga., three days after Bud Runion posted an ad on the website Craigslist that he was seeking to buy a 1966 Mustang convertible. On Jan. 22, Bud and his wife, June, set out for the small farming community in southern Georgia to meet with a potential seller. They then vanished with the first suspicions of criminal activity against them surfacing when they did not show up to babysit for their grandchildren.

A Facebook page – Find Bud and June Runion – appeared last week posted by members of the Runion family.

Church of God General Overseer Mark Williams opened the January session of the International Executive Council with prayers for the Runion family, the Mount Paran North Church, and Pastor Mark and Udella Walker. Walker, a member of the IEC, was dealing with the tragedy and unable to attend the Council session, which is scheduled for the next three days at the International Offices in Cleveland, Tennessee.

“The Runions were prominent elders and held great influence at the Mount Paran Church,” Williams told the Council. “Understandably the church is devastated by this news. Please be in prayer for Mark and Udella as they shepherd their congregation during this time.”

In Telfair County, Ga., Sheriff Chris Steverson said the couple’s SUV had been found in a lake a few miles outside McRae, a city of 5,700 about 80 miles southeast of Macon. Searches discovered two bodies – a man and a woman – nearby. In statements at a press conference following the discovery the sheriff said, “This is not the outcome we had hoped for, but obviously it’s what we have to deal with.”

The same day the authorities found bodies, investigators arrested 28-year-old Ronnie Adrian “Jay” Towns of McRae on charges of giving false statements to authorities and criminal attempt to commit theft by deception. Towns had not been charged in the deaths or disappearance of the Runions, but the sheriff said a cellphone used to make the last known contact with the Runions had been traced to Towns. He said Towns turned himself in Monday accompanied by family members.

“Bud and June Runion are some of the most generous, loving people you’ll ever want to know,” Pastor Mark Walker told WXIA-TV. “They would be saying to us, don’t mourn for us, we’re where we want to be. You love that person (the suspect), you pray for that person, you forgive that person.”

Much still remains unknown about what happened to the Runions from the time they left their home Thursday until authorities found their vehicle on Monday. The sheriff did not say how the man and woman found nearby died. The bodies were being sent to the Georgia state crime lab for identification and autopsies.

The Runions’ daughters told Atlanta’s WSB-TV their parents left home with their cellphones and chargers, but no one had heard from them since 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

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