Left inset: Daniel Robbins (Aaron’s Birmingham Mortuary Service). Right inset: Jessica Folds (Jeffcoat Trant Funeral Home). Background: The Alabama area where authorities say Robbins suffered a fatal heart attack while attempting to dump Folds’ body after strangling her (WTVM).
Authorities in Alabama say a woman was strangled by her boyfriend, who then died as he tried to leave her body in a wooded area.
Daniel Robbins, 44, of Georgia, killed his girlfriend, 47-year-old Jessica Folds, sometime in early June, 5th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mike Segrest told AL.com. “He died of a heart attack while doing it,” Segrest said.
“Their bodies were right there together,” Segrest added.
Folds and Robbins had been in a relationship before their deaths, according to Georgia television station WTVM. Their bodies were discovered on June 10 at about 12:30 p.m., after Chambers County sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle along County Road 86 in Lanett.
“Upon arrival, deputies located a deceased white female and white male in a wooded area near the vehicle,” the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
The Alabama State Bureau of Investigation was brought in to assist with the case. Both bodies were taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science, where autopsies were conducted to determine how they died.
“Based on the investigation … the female victim was strangled, and it appears the male was attempting to dispose of the body in a remote location,” Segrest told AL.com.
The abandoned vehicle that police found was still running when deputies arrived on scene. The driver’s side door was open and the tailgate was down, according to Segrest. There were drag marks found in the dirt from the truck to the location in the woods where the bodies were found.
Investigators believe Robbins was in the middle of moving Folds’ body and attempting to dump it when he collapsed and had the fatal heart attack. His ex-wife told WTVM that he had a preexisting heart condition.
Chambers County Sheriff Jeff Nelson told the station that the location where Folds and Robbins were found is believed to be a drop site, not the location where Folds was killed. He said the person who reported the abandoned truck also saw the couple’s bodies in the woods but thought they were mannequins.
According to Nelson, Folds was found with her hands raised over her head, while Robbins was in a fetal position. Folds reportedly lived just a few miles from the discovery site with Robbins in Lanett. Robbins was living in Macon, Georgia.
An obituary for Folds describes her as a mother of three who “lived and worked many places in the Auburn-Opelika area” of Alabama.
“Jessica touched the lives of many with her heart of gold, deep love for everyone, and smile that brightened the world,” the obituary says.
An obituary for Robbins, which was posted after his body was initially discovered but has since been taken down, says he was a father and “country boy” who worked as a welder and farmer, AL.com reports.
Officials have not released a motive for Folds’ killing.
