Carla Sue Atkins and Vickie Stout

On September 17th, 1980, around 3:30pm, two sisters, Carla Sue Atkins age 14 and Vickie Stout age 16 had finished a day a school and decided to go to the local Bait shop/convince store/ restaurant (The Furnace), about a mile from their home, the girls never returned home. Their mom Margie Atkins knew something was wrong, so she phoned police at the Stweart County Sheriff's Office to report the girls missing. 

Initially the girls were listed as missing, this was soon doubted when investigators learned the girls had not taken extra money or clothes with them. Meaning they more than likely planned on returning home after they went to the store. 

Police spoke to witnesses at the store/restaurant that saw the girls. These witnesses reported that they had seen the girls at the store and also seen the girls speaking to a man in a blue truck, noting the truck drove way as the girls started walking down Highway 79, back towards their home. Some witnesses reported seeing the same blue truck make a turn around and come back towards the store but thought nothing more of it. 

On October 5, 1980, 3 weeks after the girls went missing, two hikers walking on an old logging road in an area called the Land Between the Lakes (Lost Creek/Mint springs area) and smelled something, they described as "decomposition" the next part is unclear whether the hikers found the girls, or they left and called police, either way, police were notified and responded to the area, Former Sheriff John Vinson was first one scene. They found the girls, 75 feet apart, in shallow graves, with leaves and logs attempting to cover the bodies. They had Shotgun wounds to their heads. 

Police and Crime Scene investigators believe that the girls where killed the day they were abducted. Jerry Kitchen a Crime Scene Investigator, reported finding shotgun shells and one of the girls flip flops in the area. There was hair, Brain and Skull fragments on a tree near Carla Sue, leading investigators to believe the girls were killed at the burial location. 

The Autopsy showed both girls died after being shot by a 12-gauge shotgun. Carla Sue had been shot in the back of the head. Due to the decomposing of the bodies, Sexual assault is unknown. 

The Police had around 30 Suspects in the beginning however none of them have ever been charged. In 1980 Governor Lamar Alexander offered a reward of $2,500 for any leads. This reward was raised in 2016 by Governor Bill Haslam. 

In 2011 The case got a new look when a new Sheriff came into office, Deryk Wyatt and in 2015 District Attorney Ray Crouch. The TBI took over the case, Involving the FBI in 2015 due to some evidence being ruined that was stored in plastic bags. 

2019 DA Crouch said that they had 3 or 4 people they believed to be involved or know something, that same year he traveled to Florida to a special lab to have DNA from the case tested. He reported it did yield some findings but said nothing more. 

As of 2024 there is still no arrest.