Howard L. Byrd, 61 Missing From Sylacauga, AL 7/29/05 [REMAINS FOUND]

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http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t6011.html

Family offers reward in hopes of finding missing father

By Denise Sinclair
08-20-2005

The family of Howard L. Byrd is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to finding the missing south Talladega County man.

Sgt. Kenny Archer, investigator with the Talladega County Sheriff’s Department, said the family decided to offer the reward Friday in an effort to locate the 61-year-old businessman, who was last seen on July 29.

To collect the reward, the information must lead to Byrd, Archer said.

Byrd left his business, Bama Golf Carts on U.S. 280 between Childersburg and Sylacauga, with an unknown person or persons to attend an auction in Bessemer.

Archer said Friday the Sheriff’s Department has learned Byrd was seen between 10 and 11 a.m. July 29 when he went into Napa Auto Parts in Childersburg on U.S. 280. Witnesses said he was with a white male between 48 and 52 years old, clean shaven with thick hair.

"This man is not a suspect, but we need for him to come forward to talk to him," Archer said.

The Sheriff’s Department got a lead about this man and believe he could provide information about Byrd.

Archer stressed that this individual is not a suspect. "We need to talk to him," he said.

Three witnesses at the Napa Parts Store described the man Byrd was with, but Archer said they don’t know what kind of vehicle they got in.

"He probably knows something about Howard. We have been on lead after lead and have found nothing. We hope this man can help us," he said.

Investigators and Byrd’s family have been unable to determine who he left his business with earlier that morning.

He was spotted in a white, four door dually truck heading toward Birmingham and now witnesses put him at the Napa Auto Parts Store.

Byrd has brown/gray hair and walks with a slight limp. He was last seen wearing Liberty overalls with white tennis shoes.

Byrd’s sons, Teddy and Eddie, and his daughter, Bonnie, have set up a Web site in an effort to find their missing father.

The Web site is www.missinghowardbyrd.com.

Archer said anyone with information on Byrd should contact the Talladega County Sheriff’s Department at (256) 249-3811 or call Bama Golf Carts at (256) 249-0141.

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http://www.dailyhome.com/news/2008/dh-sylacauga-1217-0-8l16w2121.htm

Body ID'd as Howard Byrd

By Kendra Carter
12-17-2008

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p141/dega101653_2006/HFTM/Dec17.jpg
Howard Loyd Byrd

The skeletal remains uncovered nearly three weeks ago have been identified as those of a Sylacauga man who has been missing for more than three years.

Lt. Steve Cotney, investigator with the Clay County Sheriff’s Department, said Tuesday afternoon that the remains found inside the Talladega National Forest are those of Howard Loyd Byrd.

Cotney said in a released statement that the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound. The Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case as a homicide.

“As of today, we are involved in a homicide investigation, so we’re starting at ground zero,” he said.

Investigators have no suspects at this time, he said.

According to published reports, Byrd was last seen on Friday, July 29, 2005, leaving his business, Bama Golf Carts. Reports indicate witnesses told Talladega County Sheriff’s Department investigators they saw Byrd between 10 and 11 that morning going into an auto parts store in Childersburg. He was reportedly seen with another man, a white male between the age of 48 and 52.

Byrd was 61 when he was reported missing.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Department investigators were called to the Talladega National Forest on Nov. 27 after the remains were discovered off Alabama 148.

State forensics investigators were called to the scene to assist in processing the crime scene, and the evidence was turned over to the state Department of Forensics for further examination.

Cotney said the forensic information did indicate where Byrd was shot, but he declined to release that information. He said the forensic report could not determine an exact time frame of how long Byrd has been dead.

“How long he’s been dead, no I don’t know that,” Cotney said.

Capt. Mike Hubbard, chief investigator with the Talladega County Sheriff’s Department, said the department has been working with missing persons with this case since Byrd’s disappearance. The department will be assisting Clay County investigators with the case.

“We’re going to do whatever we can to help Clay County with their investigation,” Hubbard said.

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Missing Man Found... Family Mourns Loss
12/17/08 5:17 pm


Sylacauga, AL - A body discovered in the Talladega National Forest has been identified as Howard Byrd. The Sylacauga business owner was last seen in July 2005 and apparently died shortly after he vanished. Today Byrd's older brother spoke exclusively with ABC 33/40. He feels two very different emotions right now. First grief, but also relief that the search is over and the family can move on.

Byrd says "It feels good in a way and it's sad in a way."

Thomas Byrd looks back on a lifetime of memories with his baby brother.
ABC 33/40 Talkback:
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He explains, "We were real close... If I ever needed him he was there... if he needed me I was there. We didn't have to call on one another we knew we somebody needed us."

That instinct is one reason thomas sensed his brother was never coming home.

Byrd says "Everyday you wondered... where. If he might have been disoriented, a head injury or something and didn't know where he was... but in your heart you knew different."

But the family - and law enforcement - still don't know what happened. It's a cold case investigation spanning from life to death. Two Sheriff's departments are involved - the Sheriff's department in Talladega County where he was last seen alive three years ago and the Clay County Sheriff's Department. That's where his body was found on November 27th in the woods. Lt. Steve Cotney says at the moment of identification his department launched a homicide investigation. \

Here's what they know... Byrd died from a gun shot. He was killed around the same time he went missing. It's not clear where he died or how long his body was in the Talladega Forest. That's not a lot to go on, but Byrd's family has faith in justice.

His brother says "No body does anything that doesn't pay for it one day or another."

The Byrd family plans to hold a memorial service for Howard., but they'll wait just a little while longer until investigators are certain there's no more evidence to be collected.


http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/1208/578688.html

[Pandabear]

I'm so sorry for this family's loss but I'm thankful that they now have closure. I pray that they find out who did this to Mr. Byrd and that justice comes to his family.