Missing in Mississippi:Annie Laurie Hearin·Newton Alfred Winn

Annie Laurie Hearin was 72 and married to Robert Hearin, one of the wealthiest businessmen in Jackson, Mississippi. Among his interests was School Pictures, Inc., which had fought legal battles with some of its franchise holders. One was Newton Alfred Winn, a St. Petersburg, Florida, lawyer who owed the company money; after a 1984 judgment, marshals seized his property, sports car included.

On July 26, 1988, after hosting her bridge club, Annie Laurie disappeared from her home. Investigators found drops of blood and a typed ransom note demanding that Robert compensate 12 people the company had supposedly wronged. Robert paid close to $1 million to the franchisees on the list. A later letter in Annie Laurie’s handwriting was mailed from Atlanta. Winn’s name was on the list, witnesses had seen a white van near the house, and his former girlfriend, Marilyn Taylor, testified that he sent her to Atlanta under a false name to mail that letter.

On February 7, 1990, a federal jury convicted Winn of conspiracy to kidnap, sending a threatening communication and perjury. He was sentenced to 235 months in prison, and the conviction was upheld on appeal in 1991. Annie Laurie was declared legally dead that year, and her body has never been found. Winn was released in 2006 and never admitted any role.