A 23-year-old was found dead by Georgia hunters in 1989. Now, a man is arrested
In November 1989, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office got a call that a body had been found by the interstate.
A group of deer hunters discovered it in the woods just off I-75, about 50 miles south of metro Atlanta, according to a sheriff’s office release on March 2.
Deputies at the time identified the body as missing woman Mary Louicile Willfong, who was 23 years old. An autopsy report showed that she had been sexually assaulted, and her cause of death was determined as strangulation.
Willfong had last been seen in Forest Park, 47 miles away on the south side of the big city. She was at a farmer’s market, and deputies received tips that she had been seen getting into a tractor trailer with an unidentified man, according to the release.
Deputies interviewed suspects and DNA was collected, but nothing matched the DNA found on Willfong’s body. The case went cold.
Four years ago, in March 2019, the Monroe County Sheriff decided to reopen Willfong’s case, hoping new technology would help solve the decades-old mystery.
A special investigator resubmitted the DNA evidence that was collected 30 years prior to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime-lab, deputies said.
The evidence was also taken to DNA Labs International, a genealogy company based in Miam that could provide a more complete picture of the person who may have killed Willfong, according to the release.
The results came back, and there was a match.
Deputies identified Larry Padgett, a 59-year-old resident of Loogootee, Indiana, and arrest warrants were issued. Padgett would have been 25 at the time Willfong was killed.
On March 1, the special investigator, in collaboration with local Indiana law enforcement, drove up to Washington, Indiana, and arrested Padgett.
Deputies said that while in Indiana, investigators were able to find more evidence that linked Padgett to the crime.
Padgett is being held in Indiana until a “waiver of extradition” that would bring him back to Georgia to face charges can be signed.
This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 9:39 AM with the headline "A 23-year-old was found dead by Georgia hunters in 1989. Now, a man is arrested."
