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Murder of elderly Ga. couple baffling to authorities

EATONTON, Ga. - More than a month after the beheading of an elderly retiree and the slaying of his wife, law enforcement agents haven't been able to crack the case and it's a hot topic of conversation in the gated, lakeside Georgia town where violent crime is rare.

Concerned friends in early May found the headless body of 88-year-old Russell Dermond in the garage of his home on Lake Oconee. Eighty-seven-year-old Shirley Dermond was originally thought to have been abducted until her body was found a few weeks later in the lake. Russell Dermond's head has still not been found.

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills says he thinks the Dermonds likely knew the person or people who attacked them.

He says he's determined to solve the mystery that has the community rattled.

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