'America's Most Wanted' team films for Huddle House case

NORTH AUGUSTA -- One of North Augusta's most prominent unsolved crimes is getting another intense examination this week, courtesy of "America's Most Wanted."

The crime-busting show is focusing on what has become largely known as "the Huddle House murder" - an intense crime spree that erupted Nov. 22, 2005, and eventually grew to include one homicide, a carjacking and two non-fatal shootings, all near the intersection of U.S. Highway 25 and Interstate 20.

Angeline Hartmann, a correspondent for the program, visited the crime scene with a camera crew Tuesday afternoon in the midst of a weeklong visit to collect material for a show that will air "some time early in 2010," as she described it.

This story is unusual in that it did not involve people who were out at an odd hour, visiting a crime-ridden area or otherwise putting themselves knowingly at risk, she recalled.

"These people were just going about their daily lives, and they were just innocently doing what we all do, and it's just very sad, all the way around," she said. "It's been four years and that's really too long, and we've been watching this story for a couple of years now and we've wanted to help for a while, and we think now is a good time."

Accompanying Hartmann and her team was Lt. Tim Thornton, the detective who is leading the North Augusta Department of Public Safety's investigation. He confirmed that the case's upcoming high-level exposure could be a huge benefit.

"The media saturation to this area that morning, and for the days to come, was incredible," he said. "We didn't get any type of national exposure, but it wasn't necessary at the time. By having the national exposure, we think we might be able to tap into somebody that ... could have picked up someone from here and dropped him off somewhere across the country and didn't even know something like this happened, so we're looking for specifics - Tuesday morning, Nov. 22, 2005."

Thornton pointed out that a truck stop is just across U.S. Highway 25 from where the shootings occurred in the immediate vicinity of a Burger King, Huddle House and Bojangles'.

Hartmann noted that the case has "a bizarre twist at the end."

"When you're talking about a bad guy who commits these violent acts and then leaves the area and comes back to the same location, to the same so-called hot zone, that's strange," she said.

She added, "Once we partner up with a law-enforcement agency and decide that this is the route that we want to go, our viewers are very loyal. They're very sharp, and they want to get justice for the people involved, and ... for us, it's just a matter of time. Now that we're here, this guy might as well turn himself in because he's going to be arrested sooner or later."

The show's website, www.amw.com, cites a record of "1,094 fugitives captured worldwide" by way of programs dating back to 1988. The host, John Walsh, has received a number of awards for his service, including being named an honorary U.S. Marshal. His 6-year-old son, Adam Walsh, was abducted and murdered in Florida in 1981.

Tips on the North Augusta case may be submitted to the program's makers at (800) CRIME-TV or to the North Augusta Department of Public Safety at 279-2121.