Marietta, Georgia. October 6 1997

I was about 17 years old at the time. My friend Tina and I were out driving around. There was this place called the witch’s graveyard in Marietta near the train tracks and the old covered bridge. Tina and I had been there taking photographs of the graves. It must have been fall, around Halloween. It was late in the evening; the sun was starting to set. I walked to her car, got in and started to drive home. I went around the corner, through the covered bridge and took a right towards the train tracks. The road was curvy, and on the right side was a small river. As I was getting closer to the way, I noticed a red pickup on the left side of the road.

I saw 5 guys get out of that truck. There were 4 white guys and 1 black guy. The black guy was pretty beaten up and had a rope around his neck. The white guys were all carrying shotguns. I slowed down and got a better look at what was going on. 2 of the guys started signalling to the guy who had been driving the red truck. He was pointing at Tina’s car. I got scared and took off as fast as I could. I went under the train tracks and tried to get out of there.

I noticed a black pickup behind us when I got to the traffic light on Thorton Road. The light turned green, and I turned left. The truck followed. As it got closer, I noticed that 2 of the guys in it were 2 of the guys I had seen back at the train tracks. I decided to try and lose them. I drove around neighbourhoods, left and right, but the truck still followed.

I had been driving around for an hour, followed by these guys. I couldn’t lose them. So I decided to go to the police department. The truck stayed on my tail the whole time. I got right into the police parking lot, and finally, the car sped off.

I parked the car in front of the police station. I was still scared. I don’t know why I didn’t go to the police and make a report at that time; I just didn’t. Instead, I sat there for a bit and then drove home.

Sincerely,

Kelly Smith