Sweet Home Alabama

JB Beasley and Tracy Hollett, 17-year-old best friends, set out on their last day of summer vacation on July 31st, 1999. They were going to Headland, Alabama, to celebrate IB's birthday, but they got lost en route and called their mother from Ozark around 11:30 PM. Tracy told her mom they were coming home.
JB and Tracy had stopped at a gas station in Headland to get directions to the birthday party they were going to. JB and Tracy were friends from high school, so they spoke on the phone for a bit before getting back in their car and continuing their journey. However, unbeknownst to them, around 10:30 PM, as they were driving towards the party, they got lost in the rural area near Ozark, Alabama. They called their friends to ask for help, but when they arrived at the party around midnight, they realized that they would have never found it if it wasn't for their friends. After her parents separated, she moved to Dothan with her mother in 1984. She was adored by her mother as well as her stepfather, Joey Bagoon, whom her mother married after a few years. She grew up in a nice home in Dothan along with her four sisters. JB grew up to be a very outgoing girl who was involved in various activities, including cheerleading, dancing, piano, and swimming. She even modeled for several agencies along with her sisters. Besides all of her hobbies, she loved hanging out with her friends and family. It was in high school that JB met her fellow cheerleader, Tracy Hollett, and the two did not take long to become best friends.
 Tracy Gene Hallett was born on March 3rd, 1982, to parents Carolyn and Robert Hallett. Unfortunately, her father, who worked in the Dothan Police Department, died when Tracy was only five years old. Her mother later remarried a man named Mike Roberts, who helped raise Tracy along with her mother, unlike JB. Tracy was a bit shy but never hesitated to put people before herself. She was also very protective of her two brothers, who were much younger than her. Even at a young age, she was a responsible older sister. Tracy also attended Northview High School, regularly received good grades, and was a cheerleader alongside JB as both girls were blossoming into adulthood. JB and Tracy were oblivious to their Dreadful fate which would strip them of all their future hopes and dreams on July 31 1999 at around 1005PM JB and Tracy left Dothan in JB's black 1993 Mazda 929 to attend a birthday party organized in JB's honor in Headland just a few miles north however the young girls being unfamiliar with the roads leading to their destination soon found themselves in trouble within a few minutes of starting their Journey from their Hometown they got around in around 10:30 and Tracy stopped at a BP gas station near the intersection of routes 173 and 431 in Headland in search of directions using a pay phone at that gas station they called their friends to get better directions to the party after JB and Tracy had stopped at a gas station in Headland to get directions to the birthday party they were going to. JB and Tracy were friends from high school, so they spoke on the phone for a bit before getting back in their car and continuing their journey. However, unbeknownst to them, around 10:30 PM, as they were driving towards the party, they got lost in the rural area near Ozark, Alabama. They called their friends to ask for help, but when they arrived at the party around midnight, they realized that they would have never found it if it wasn't for their friends.
Investigators were left without much to go on after discovering the bodies of two teenage girls in a locked car trunk. % Initially, investigators considered robbery as a possible motive, but this was quickly ruled out after confirming that not only the girl's purses but also their jewelry, money, and credit cards remained inside the car. Autopsies later confirmed that there were no traces of alcohol or drugs in their system, ruling out the possibility of the crime being sexually motivated. However, investigators received a report indicating that there were traces of unknown semen on JB's bra and pants, and a palm print remained unidentified with no matches in the system, raising more questions about who may have committed this heinous crime. A reward was put out in an effort to gather any new information, but it did not uncover any leads.
However, authorities soon got an unexpected breakthrough. On September 1st, exactly one month after the bodies of JB and Tracy were found, a longtime Ozark resident, 28-year-old Johnny William Barrentine, walked into the Ozark Police Department to tell a bizarre story.
He claimed that he had been a witness to the high-profile double homicide of the Dothan teenagers. Barentine told police that on the night of the murders, around the same time Tracy Hollett called her mother from the pay phone at the big little store, he went out to buy milk for his two-year-old son and claimed that while he was out he had witnessed the horrendous act. Next, he alleged that he returned home upset and told his wife that he'd been hit by a black truck near Herring Road in the days following JB and Tracy's murder. When he shared the information with some of his friends, they convinced them that he should go to the police with this information as it could be linked to the murders of Tracy and JB, which would not only help police crack the case but could also get him the reward. Disturbingly, in the four hours of interview with Ozark Police, he changed his story six times.
Ozark Police Chief Tony R. Spivey Barrentine initially said that on the night of the killings he had seen a black truck speeding away from the area where the girls were found, but as the interview continued, his story kept evolving and changing. Finally, he claimed that he'd picked up a tattooed man he didn't know and the two drove by the big little store. He further claimed that the man to whom he'd given a ride got into a car with two girls whom he identified as the deceased Dothan teenagers. He said they ended up on Herring Avenue, where the man forced the girls out of the car. A struggle occurred between the men and the girls as they were trying to get away.
According to then Ozark Police Chief Tony R. Spivey Barrentine, he initially said that on the night of the killings he had seen a black truck speeding away from the area where the girls were found, but as the interview continued, his story kept evolving and changing. Finally, he claimed that he'd picked up a tattooed man he didn't know and the two drove by the big little store. He further claimed that the man to whom he'd given a ride got into the car with two deceased teenage girls, believed to be the Dothan teens. After placing them in the trunk, Barentin said he saw something in that
man's hand moments before hearing two gunshots, and when the men returned, Barentine again gave him a ride from the scene and then went home.
In another version, Barrentine confessed to investigators that he knew the man he'd picked up and given a ride to and identified him as his neighbor. Alarmingly, Barrentine himself lived less than a mile from where police discovered the bodies, and a struggle occurred between the men and the girls as they were trying to get away.
Police did not buy his story, naming him the prime suspect in the murders of J.B. Beasley and Tracy Hollett. The Ozark police arrested Johnny Barantine in the spat, charging him with two counts of capital murder, but there were several problems with his accounts. Barrentine never mentioned sexual activity that would account for the seamen found on JB's clothing and body. Besides the neighbor he implicated having an alibi for the evening, several people noted that he looked startled and like he had just awoken from a deep sleep in his mugshot. Just after his arrest, Barrentine immediately admitted that he had fabricated the whale story in order to collect the reward money.
 However police at the time believed they arrested the right person in the preliminary hearing on September 21st Alabama Bureau of Investigation agent Charles Huggins testified that barentine was able to describe the girl's clothing and other items consistent with the crime suggesting he was there at the scene from the time of his arrest barentine was held without bond in the Dale County Jail in Ozark in an October 18th bond hearing bacentine denied he was involved in the killings confessing to the judge that he never picked up a tattooed man and didn't see anything the night of the murders he said that he simply went to the store at about 11pm to get milk for his little boy and later fabricated the whole story to claim the reward money however he was denied the bond and sent back to jail.
On December 17, 1999, after it was revealed that Barentine's DNA did not match that of the seamen found on JB's body and clothing in January 2000, a Dale County grand jury declined to indict Barentine and clear them as suspects in this double murder. After Johnny Barentine was cleared of suspicion, the investigation endured a setback. The methods employed by investigators were also criticized. There began to be mutterings that the Ozark Police were incapable of handling the case, but the police still had some potential.
Suspects on their radar One of the most viable suspects was a man from Michigan who was at a party the night of the murders near where JB's car
Later, investigators discovered that the man, who was not publicly named, left town within days of the murders. Investigators had even traveled to Michigan three times to interview him, but he could not account for three or four
hours of his time on the night of the murders and later made some suspicious statements to people.
However, the police declined to elaborate on these alleged statements, as it turned out he was also later ruled out by DNA. Another significant lead the police were chasing during the initial phase of the investigation was the driver of a small white pickup truck.
A video surveillance camera inside the big little store caught a grainy, poor-quality image of what appeared to be a small white pickup truck at the gas pumps at the same time JB and Tracy were at the payphone calling Tracy's mother at the pump. At that time, no digital trail could be traced, though, as there was no record of a gas purchase.
The video neither showed anyone getting out of the truck nor did it show the driver clearly. After releasing a photo of the truck to the media a month into the investigation, police urged the public to come forward with information.
Unfortunately, both the driver and the truck vanished into thin air as the lead faded away. The last lead for the investigators was a man from Mississippi.
Spivey knew investigators wanted to question him in connection with the case, but no significant information came out in light of this lead. Without any evidence, investigators were
forced to let him go in March of 2000, a woman called police and said she heard screams and two
gunshots near Highway 123 South just inside the city limits on the night of July 31st 1999 when asked why she did not come forward earlier she claimed she was scared to get involved based on her description police thoroughly searched the area and discovered a nine millimeter bullet the same type used to kill the girls but the brand name of the bullet did not match the brand of bullet shell casing found on Tracy's body, furthermore the unspent bullet had no markings that would help with forensic comparison to other evidence in the case again another dead end for investigators although several leads over the years proved to lead nowhere investigators never lost hope in the search for a DNA match as the heartbroken families of JB and Tracy tried to get on with their lives the case turned cold then years later another twist in the case added another layer to the thrilling mystery after remaining cold for years 2015 would Marka bombshell allegation in the murder case of JB Beasley and Tracy hallett
A sworn Ozark auxiliary police officer came forward and openly accused an Ozark police officer of murdering JB Beasley and Tracy Hollett and others of covering it up. Rina alleged that on the night of July 31, 1999, a police officer for Ozark Police pulled over JB Beasley, demanding to know the whereabouts of some cassette tapes that contained recorded conversations. According to Rina, these tapes could have incriminated Ozark police officers regarding the illegal business of cocaine distribution, and then the incident could have escalated into the murders of two innocent teens. Rena claimed that she'd been threatened by multiple law enforcement officials who had knowledge of the murderer's identity and covered it up by getting rid of evidence.
Rina named three cops, Gary Butch Whittington, Rex Tipton, and Eddie Henderson, accusing them of harassing them, and she went as far as to say that then police chief Tony Spivey, who handled the
Threatening her original investigation had also helped cover it up, but she shied away from revealing the name of the police officer who she claimed had actually committed the murders.
On January 29, 2016, Keith Coffin, Rex Tipson, Tony Spivey, Eddie Henderson, and Gary Butch Whittington, all Ozark Alabama Police officials, filed a lawsuit against Rina Crum, John B. Carroll, and Dean Matthews for reliable slander and defamation.
of character that case was dismissed in 2018 in May 2016. Rena Crum received a suspended sentence and a $250 fine after being convicted of harassing JB Beasley's sister. Over the years, authorities investigated many theories.
They interviewed hundreds of people and took DNA samples from several suspects, but to no avail. It would take 20 years and the innovation of new DNA technologies before police could apprehend a suspect. In March 2019, investigators sent the DNA found on JB's body and clothes to the Virginia-based Parabon Nano Lab, which specializes in DNA phenotyping and genetics using public genealogy databases.
After analyzing the DNA, the lab finally made a connection to a suspect calling himself Coley Lewis Mecraney. 45-year-old Coley Lewis Mecraney was never on the radar of investigators in the brutal 1999 murders of JB Beasley and Tracy Holland until DNA implicated him in the crime, according to the reports of Dothan Eagle at the time. Mecraney's ex-wife filed a complaint with the Air Force in 1994 stating that Mccraney had assaulted her. Mccraney remarried in 2001 and had children with a second wife other than failing to pay child support.
In 1998, Mecraney had no criminal record. In the past 20 years or so, he'd been working as a trucker all of his life and had worked for several
trucking companies in Alabama over the years
In recent years, he co-founded a church and worked as a bishop there at the time of the killings.
He was around 26 and living on Lisenby Drive in Ozark, about one mile away from where the bodies of JB Beasley and Tracy Hollett were found in 1999, two decades after the slain high school seniors JB Beasley and Tracy Holland were found. Coley McRaney was arrested after a traffic stop in Daleville, Alabama, on March 19, 2019. In the interview with the police after he was taken into custody, McCraney said he did not know the girls. The investigators did not clarify any motive for the murders. It seemed that the many twisted strands in this baffling case were finally all being tied together, and there was to be one more revelation. The now 53-year-old Rena Crum, who previously accused the Ozark Police Department of covering up the murder, recanted her allegations as she testified during a hearing from Ukraine in August 2022. Mccraney, now 49, is facing five counts of capital murder charges for the shooting deaths of JB Beasley and Tracy Holland. He now sits behind bars in Dale County Jail. As of the time of his arrest, his bond has been denied pending his trial on April 17, 2023.
The news of finally apprehending the killer was a relief to the families of both girls, but reliving all the haunting memories through the trial and hearings is another painful journey still to come. We can only hope that the families can heal through a sense of peace that their daughters are finally getting justice.
more than two decades later.