BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
This Thanksgiving, there will be two empty chairs for the families of Susan Osborne and her son, Evan Chartrand. But hope among the family and friends remains that answers will come one day. The mother and son have been missing from Elmore County since May of 2017. Family and friends do not believe they are alive, and that foul play is involved.
Investigation Discovery will air “Still a Mystery” tonight at 8 p.m. Central. The show will focus on the case and is called “Where the Clues Lead.”
According to a post on the Facebook Page “Justice for Susie and Evan” the show will be added to the Discovery+ platform on Dec. 23.
Susan and Evan lived in Wetumpka with Susan’s husband Jerry Osborne. Evan attended Holtville High School. Susan was a stay-at-home mom. Jerry reportedly told authorities Susan and Evan had left on their own with an unknown man. Family, and even many law enforcement officials said that is unlikely. While Susan’s husband was a person of interest, he has never been charged in the case. He has since sold the home he shared with Susan and Evan and moved to Prattville.
Though Jerry said Susan and Evan willingly left around Memorial day 2017, it would be two months before Elmore County deputies were contacted and asked to do a welfare check.
That point often confuses people. Why would family and loved ones wait so long? It is easily explainable, however, as you dig into the facts of the case. Susie was a very private person. She would go for periods with little or no contact with some of her friends/family. But two months was in the extreme. She had no family in Alabama. Family members and friends say she was watched very closely by her husband, and all of her social media, emails and comings and goings were supervised.
Prior to the family contacting the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office, they had reached out to her husband, Jerry. He said that Susie had packed up most of their belongings when she left. However, he never made a police report concerning his allegations, including that she vandalized the house before she allegedly left. He only spoke to law enforcement officers after Susie’s family reported her as missing.
But all records of Susie and Evan making phone calls, texting, social media or seeing anyone stopped around Memorial Day.
Shortly after the mother and son allegedly left on their own, Jerry completely renovated the house. Neighbors reported that he burned furniture and many other items in the back yard of the home for days on end.
There is a shadow that lingers around the Holtville community over this unsolved case.
This case has been covered by multiple media outlets locally, nationally and even internationally.
Someone knows something, but as time goes by some lose hope that anything will ever be uncovered. We believe this case could be solved, and we appreciate the investigators and private investigators that keep updates going in this case. Susie and Evan will not be forgotten.
Here is a link to an article we did in September that gives the facts of the case. It also includes links to a recent podcast on the case.
