Just wanted to let you all know that I have returned home from Coffee County tonight, after spending the weekend there. For those of you that requested look-ups, I was unable to do any work at the Probate Court as the office was closed due to the death of the Sheriff there. There have been a few rumors and several questions on the list and I'll will tell you briefly what Karen and I both know. Carlton Evans,Sheriff of Coffee County was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest Tuesday morning after GBI and FBI were sent out to his home to serve him with a warrant for his arrest. Nine other people were arrested and all are presently out on bond. According to state law, Coroner Neil Sims is currently acting as Sheriff. It is believed that Probate Judge Troy Paul will name a new Sheriff tomorrow (Monday). Rob Smith, Carlton Evans' brother-in-law and former Deputy, was recently elected as the new Sheriff of Coffee County and was expected to assume his duties in January, 2001. Carlton Evans' funeral was on Friday afternoon at the First United Methodist Church and was filled to capacity with friends, family and law enforcement from surrounding counties. Whether he was guilty or not of the charges that were being leveled against him, he was a man that was well respected and loved by most of Coffee County. The whole community is still shocked by the tragedy and the investigation that will most likely continue to be on-going. Our sympathies go out to Sheriff Evans' family, no matter the circumstances, losing a loved one is never easy and having to grieve while rumors and speculation is running rampant must be overwhelming. On another note, Karen, Mom, my granddaughter Haley and I, along with a number of other historians and bargain hunters, spent ALL day Saturday at the auction for Miss Willie Pearl Davis' estate. Although Bids were rather high on the majority of her possessions, Karen was able to buy some old papers and photographs, Mom bought an old nail keg and glassware, I now own old scrapbooks, more recent pictures, some commemorative plates and about 200 or so old books, including about 5 Bibles, most of them in fair to bad condition. We will include a tribute page to Miss Willie Pearl on our Coffee Site as she was a well-known teacher there for many years and her brother taught in either Appling County or Dodge County. Karen can correct me on this if I'm wrong. Hopefully we can get the pictures and articles up soon. After going through some of the papers that I have, I'll post them to the list as I know there are several people here that were taught at one time by Miss Davis. Take care, Melody