She Vanished After Driving To A Payphone To Call Her Boyfriend: Days Later She Was Found Murdered, But Her Killer Has Never Been Identified
In 1999, Elaine Nix of Gainesville, Georgia, vanished after driving to a payphone to call her boyfriend. The 18-year-old was found murdered 9 days later, but her killer has never been identified.
It all began on September 20, 1999, when Elaine received reportedly “disrespectful” pages from her boyfriend, Billy Millwood.
He lived 25 miles away in Cleveland, and Elaine’s home phone was apparently programmed to send any messages from Billy to her pager.
So, that Monday evening, Elaine wanted to call her boyfriend. The only problem was that, given the distance between their houses, the calls were considered long-distance and too expensive.
That’s why Elaine’s parents had banned her from calling Billy from their residence, and she found an alternative solution.
She would visit Zack’s Food Rack, a convenience store with a payphone located five minutes away on Candler Road. For only 35 cents, she was able to call Billy, and the pair could chat for as long as they wanted.
By 11:00 p.m. on September 20, 1999, Zack’s Food Rack had already closed. Nonetheless, Elaine went there just to use the payphone, and she spoke with Billy from 11:10 p.m. until 12:10 a.m.
After she hung up the phone, though, Elaine was never seen or heard from again. Around one hour later, at 1:00 a.m. on September 21, a police officer noticed her vehicle, a 1986 Toyota Celica, in the convenience store’s parking lot.
The car’s hood was still warm, and the keys had been left in the ignition. Plus, Elaine’s purse and cigarettes were sitting inside. The officer reportedly did not investigate the scene further at the time.
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It wasn’t until Elaine missed payday at Up The Creek restaurant, where she worked as a hostess, that her mother, Becky, became concerned. It was uncharacteristic of the teen to miss work, especially on payday.
This pushed Becky to visit Zack’s Food Rack, the last known place her daughter had been. There, she discovered Elaine’s car still parked beside the payphone.
The window was rolled down, and the keys were still in the ignition. Plus, in the backseat were Elaine’s purse, cigarettes, and pager. All that was missing was her address book.
Becky proceeded to drive her daughter’s car back to their home, not realizing at the time that it could’ve contained evidence.
“I just got in the car, and I don’t remember if I left the seat up or not. And I drove home,” Becky recalled.
“And my husband, he was following me, and he said by the time I pulled into the driveway, and when I got out of the car, he said I was just white as a ghost. I knew then that something was wrong with this picture.”
Upon arriving back at their house, Elaine’s parents contacted the Hall County Sheriff’s Office to file a missing person report. However, they were reportedly told that enough time hadn’t passed yet.
That’s when the Nix family took matters into their own hands. They began creating handwritten missing person flyers and posting them around town. Additionally, volunteer search parties consisting of friends and family members started scouring the local area.
According to Hall County Assistant County Administrator Marty Nix, of no relation to the Nix family, the police began searching on September 22, 1999.
“First securing the tapes at the convenience store, interviewing people close to her, and even bringing out canine trackers,” Marty recalled.
Surveillance footage from Zack’s Food Rack showed a small, dark-colored pickup truck entering the parking lot at some point during Elaine’s phone call with Billy. The pay phone wasn’t in the security camera’s line of sight, though, and the driver of the truck was never located.
Instead, 9 days after Elaine disappeared, her remains were discovered 17 miles away in a wooded region of Gwinnett County, close to an industrial park on Verona Avenue. She was found unclothed, wearing just her necklace and promise ring.
Elaine’s clothing was never recovered, and due to hot temperatures and high humidity in the area, her body had decomposed significantly. The time or cause of her death was unable to be determined by medical examiners, but her manner of death is still classified as a homicide.
Roadblocks were set up around the industrial park, yet no further evidence was found. Interstate 85 was close to both the industrial park and Zack’s Food Rack, so it’s theorized that a truck driver might’ve killed her.
Nonetheless, exactly what happened remains a mystery. Elaine’s murder has gone unsolved for over 25 years, and her friends and family want the police to re-examine her case.
According to Elaine’s close friend, Jennifer Boyd, she was a caring, bubbly, and outspoken young woman who “had a heart of goal” and dreamt of becoming a nurse.
“By now, she would have been married with kids, nursing, and living her best life, but her life was taken from her at the age of 18,” Jennifer stated in September 2024.
Elaine’s cousin, Stephanie Reese, noted it was “disheartening” that they hadn’t received any answers, saying, “We feel like it’s been put on a shelf and nobody’s really worked on it.”
“Take her case off the shelf, look at it again after 25 years, and re-examine everything. Let somebody with fresh eyes look,” pleaded Jennifer.
On September 12, 2024, Gwinnett County Police reportedly confirmed they had no updates on Elaine’s case. Despite that, Jennifer refuses to give up hope, and a Facebook page entitled “Elaine Nix Unsolved Murder” has been created to continue raising awareness.
“She is loved and missed by so many people, and we will never give up,” she said.
“If you know anything, it can be the smallest thing that you think wouldn’t even matter. Please reach out to Gwinnett County, reach out to Hall County, reach out to someone. You can reach out to me, and I will get the information. The main issue is awareness because I’ve had people come up to me and tell me that they thought this case was solved.”
If you have any information related to Elaine’s murder, you are urged to contact the Gwinnett Police Department Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (404) 577-8477 or the Hall County Sheriff’s Office at (770) 531-6900.
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