Vigil Remembers Elaine Nix - Unsolved Murder Victim

On September 29, 1999 Elaine Nix's lifeless nude body was discovered in an industrial park area. Elaine vanished eight days earlier after going to pay phone to call her boyfriend. Her car was found abandoned and it appeared that nothing had been taken. Since the disappearance and murder of Elaine, there have been few clues and no answers as to what happened that fateful night.

Her family and friends have been left with far too many questions and very little answers. They try daily to find new ways to keep Elaine's case from turning cold, and from being just another cold case.

Every year on the anniversary of the discovery of Elaine's body, family, friends, and others gather at her gravesite located at the Memorial Park Cemetary. They hold a candle lit ceremony and release balloons in Elaine's memory. So far, they leave the vigil without answers and without the closure they need in order for this horrible wound to heal. They wonder if the next year will be the year for justice to be found? As temperatures dropped way down for residents in Georgia today, many people still came out late Friday afternoon to be a part of Elaine's annual vigil. They wanted to remember her, and to let others know that this is unacceptable that a person can be murdered and that a killer can still remain at large.

Our group is always in attendance at the vigil for Elaine. With Elaine being a local case, we have become all too familiar with the police departments working with her case, as well as the family who is still searching for answers. It seems so surreal that something like this could happen this close to our own back yard. You always think that a violent crime will happen someplace other than your own immediate area, but then something changes that.

Somewhere, there is someone that has information regarding the disappearance and murder of Elaine Nix. They've possibly talked to someone about this crime, and if that person who has that vital information could just come forward, then that's all it takes. There is a $5,000 REWARD --- Whoever has committed this crime is still out there. They could be ready to strike again, or probably have done so already.

If you have ANY information regarding the disappearance and death of Elaine Nix, please do the right thing and call Gwinnett County Police Department of Criminal Investigation Division at 770-513-5300.

View All Photos From Elaine's 2006 Vigil

Websites for Elaine Nix

Justice For Elaine

Friends Remember Elaine

Related Article from Gainesville Times - Earlier This Week -----


In a little less than three months, Elaine Nix would have turned 25 years old. But six years ago, someone or something saw to it that she would never reach her 19th birthday. On Sept. 29, 1999, Nix was found dead in a wooded area at an industrial park in Buford, two miles from the Hall County line. Her body showed no signs of rape or torture. Family members and friends plan to meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Park Funeral Home to hold a candlelight vigil in her memory, an annual gathering since the teenager's mysterious death. "Elaine was and still is one of my best friends and this year marks six long years since her murder," Jennifer Boyd, one of Nix's closest friends, said in an e-mail. "Family and friends still don't know anything surrounding her (death)." Nix disappeared after midnight Sept. 21, 1999. She was seen last at a pay phone at Zack's Food Rack on Candler Road in South Hall. Authorities say phone records indicate she spent nearly an hour on the phone with her former boyfriend, Bobby Millwood of Cleveland. Elaine's 1986 Toyota Celica was found later that night at the convenience store with the keys in the ignition and the engine still warm. After her body was found, an autopsy revealed no obvious injuries or signs of sexual assault. Nix's cause of death still is undetermined. "How can we go on?" asked Elaine's father, David Nix, three years ago. "Part of us is gone." Six years have passed and no solid information has turned up to lead investigators to a possible suspect or cause of death. Sgt. E.T. Edkin with the Gwinnett County criminal investigations division still takes calls on the case to date, but says there has been nothing significant in recent years. "No new leads," he said with a sigh. "I still take sporadic calls on it but they haven't helped us any." Edkin said the last call came in some time in July. He even got a Teletype on a possible serial killer from LaGrange, but he hasn't heard anything about that recently. "We've had plenty of suspects, but there are no new ones," he said. "It's considered a cold case now. When leads come in we will look into it, but it's not an everyday investigation." That hasn't stopped Becky and David Nix in the search for their daughter's alleged killer. A reward fund was created soon after Elaine's death, reaching $10,000 at one point. But as years passed and the investigation became almost stagnant, some foundations pulled money out of the reward fund. Boyd said $5,000 is left in the fund for anyone with information that leads to an arrest in Elaine's death. "Elaine's family and friends have had a really hard time dealing with all of this," Boyd said. "Her parents have almost lost everything they have and they don't have the money to hire a private investigator or put any more money up for the reward fund." Hal Lowder, a private investigator with Eagle Watch Investigations in Gainesville, has volunteered to assist with the case. Lowder, a former fire investigator with Hall County, was returning from Louisiana last week and could not be reached for comment. Boyd and Becky Nix also attended the "Montel Williams Show" last November looking for answers from psychic Sylvia Browne. Becky Nix said following the show that Browne gave her a description and name of the man who may have killed her daughter, but she said she didn't know the name. Edkin said last week that Browne's information did not lead to anything new, but he said another psychic e-mailed him after the show aired with his own theory of what happened. Although there have been no answers to Elaine's death, family members and friends still hold on to the fact that somebody may know something. "Awareness is vital and we want to let everyone know that Elaine is important to us," Boyd said.