Remains of Missing CAZ player found in northern AZ

[Aack Thbbbt]

Was some talk around the room last night about a High limit poker player that disappeared about 9 years ago.  Apparently his remains were found buried in northern Arizona.
Foul play is clear beings there was  a gunshot wound to the back of the head:
http://www.peoplesdefender.com/Main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=83&ArticleID=134336
Remains of former Peebles man found
Johnson missing for more than 8 years
Editor's note: Eight and one-half years after being reported missing at the age of 56, a Peebles native was finally brought home and laid to rest last week. This is the story as told by his sister, Kathy (McCoy) Butler.


On February 3, 2003, Terry Dean Johnson, of Arizona, formerly of Peebles, went missing. His disappearance wasn't reported until almost a week later. The Phoenix, Ariz. Police Department began the investigation by talking with friends and acquaintances, acquiring snippets of information.

Rumors began to wildly circulate as to what happened to Terry, and numerous stories began. There are partial truths and lies in all of it. The whole truth I'm sure we will never know. Regardless of what those truths might be, no one deserves to be murdered and disposed of in such a way that it took eight and one-half years to uncover.

Terry's case was assigned to the Missing Person's Unit, with Detective Jan Butcher as the case agent. Det. Butcher was later transferred to Homicide, and took Terry's case with her. How fortunate I was that it was this particular detective that answered my call over seven years ago.

After a lengthy period of time, the case was going nowhere, lying dormant waiting for justice. Fear of it becoming a cold case - shoving the case folder into a box, the box pushed onto a shelf or into a wall, never again to be seen - was something that kept me awake many nights.

Numerous phone calls, letters and e-mails went out to all those who would listen, making it personal and fighting to keep Terry up front in their minds. Making him someone's brother, son, father and friend, not just a case number or another missing person's statistic.

Months turned into years with an abundance of hurdles and hoops to jump through to keep fighting for what was right. Never once did I give up hope that he would someday be found and brought home to rest in peace where he belonged. But... never once did I realize the ramifications of what the outcome would be.

In June of this year, information was obtained from a former Peebles resident on the location of Terry's remains. On Aug. 18, he was found in northern Arizona on property owned by yet another former Peebles resident.

After an autopsy, the cause of death was revealed as a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Heartbreaking!

Terry is finally home and was laid to rest on Sunday, Oct. 23. Regardless of the situation, I have to be thankful that what I'd set out to do years ago, along with Det. Butcher, in bringing my brother home has finally come to its end.

What happens from here on out is yet to be seen. Someone told me recently that I needed to do whatever it took to get closure for my family. There is, of course, a sense of peace knowing Terry is finally back where he came from and not in an unmarked grave where he laid all those years - but there will never be closure as long as there are still unanswered questions and until the truth is revealed.

AND
http://www.maysville-online.com/news/local/article_c863d034-0b22-11e1-93cd-001cc4c03286.html


PEEBLES, Ohio -- Terry Dean Johnson was 56 years old when he left the residence of a friend in Phoenix, Ariz., on Feb. 3, 2003, and was never seen alive again.

Last month, family members in Peebles were finally able to put his body to rest, but not the circumstances surrounding his death.
According to Phoenix Police Detective Jan Butcher, Johnson's body was found in an area of Yavapia County, southwest of Flagstaff, Ariz., over the summer.
"It was a burial location," Butcher said Wednesday.
Details of the investigation are not being released other than what has already been released to family members.
"There is a connection to people from the same part of Ohio he was from," Butcher said.
According to reports, based on a June tip, Johnson's body was located on a property belonging to another Peebles resident on Aug. 18.
According to missing person agencies, at the time of his disappearance, Johnson had visited a friend on Greenway Road in Phoenix, then left with a person who was driving a white vehicle.
After his body was found, an autopsy revealed Johnson had been shot in the back of the head, officials said.
Johnson is survived by his father and stepmother, Vayne and Helen McCoy; his stepfather, Marion Sweatt; and four brothers.
Johnson was buried in Ohio on Oct. 23, his obituary lists his date of death as Feb. 3, 2003.