FERRIER FILES: 40-year-old double murder haunts small Tennessee town

DOVER, Tenn. (WZTV) — The case has been cold for so long that many fear if it's not solved soon, it will never be solved. Two teenage girls executed at Land Between the Lakes in Dover, Tennessee nearly 40 years ago.

The case has been injected with new life, not by law enforcement, but by two moms and their podcast: Murder at Land Between the Lakes.

Amelia Courtney and Lanie Sullivan have only been in Stewart County one time, but they have been deeply rooted in the Dover area for months now.

“It was a very well-known case and to still not have answers for such a well-known case was really upsetting to us. What happened on that dreadful day,” questioned Sullivan.

The podcast has 20,000 downloads, and locals have come out of the woodwork to talk about what they know about the case.

The two moms both grew up in Tennessee, but now live in New Jersey. It's from that far flung place that they have focused on Stewart County's darkest day.

In 1980, 16-year-old Vicki Stout and 14-year-old Carla Atkins were last seen walking home from a convenience store on Highway 79, the main drag over in Dover. Two witnesses say they stopped to talk to a man in a blue truck. They were never seen alive again.

18 days later, they were both found side by side shot in the head at Land Between the Lakes. The Park Service closed the road where they think the girls entered federal property.

“How much longer are family members going to be alive? How much longer are the people who know something going to be alive? People who can answer the questions that can still be answered?” Courtney commented.

The podcasters found a newspaper article written in a nearby county with a misleading headline. Buried in the article, authorities found the murder weapon, shells and body parts buried near the murder site - to think this was kept from the family.

"That's explosive information that no one told the family about," said Courtney.

How could someone get away with a double murder in a town of only 1,400 people where everyone knows everyone?

Stewart County Mayor Robin Brandon believes the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the sheriff's department did a terrible job on the case.

"What went wrong where the evidence is that's the big question, where the evidence is, let's get DNA checks done on it. The technology is better. Let's do everything we can," Brandon said.

District Attorney Ray Crouch reopened the case in 2015 after he took office. Composite sketches were released with age progressions. He says new leads have been developed and old suspects have been excluded. He also claims that every theory has been considered, even those based on rumor and gossip. Crouch says there have been many new DNA tests using unique and specialized technology.

It has been hard to recover from mistakes made at the beginning. Could two moms with a heart for two teenagers be the difference after all this time?

“It’s been going on for decades. It’s been a sore that is festering on this county for a long time," Mayor Brandon said. "We are thankful for Amelia and Lani. We pray there will be an answer to the case."

The podcast has since sparked an online petition.