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Couple who sought 1966 Mustang on Craigslist believed dead

Elrey "Bud" Runion's daughter said he wanted to buy a 1966 Mustang because he owned one after he returned from Vietnam.

By Frances Burns

MCRAE, Ga., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A Vietnam veteran and his wife may have been lured to their deaths after they placed a Craigslist ad for a 1966 Mustang, Georgia investigators said.

Elrey "Bud" Runion, 69, and his wife, June, 66, of Marietta disappeared after driving to McRae, 180 miles to the south, to look at a car that a seller who responded to their ad claimed to have. The couple's GMC Suburban was found in a lake near McRae and two bodies were discovered nearby on Monday.

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"It's not the outcome we had hoped for but, obviously, it's the one we have to deal with," Telfair County Sheriff Chris Steverson said.

The bodies had not yet been positively identified.

Ronnie "Jay" Adrian Towns, 28, who surrendered to the sheriff's department Monday, has been charged with making false statements and theft by deception. Steverson said he has admitted responding to the ad even though he did not own a Mustang.

"We feel that the entire communication he had with Mr. Runion was deceptive," the sheriff said.

The Runions disappeared Thursday. Their family reported them missing the next day.

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"He was excited about the car. He had one when he got back from Vietnam," the couple's daughter, Stephanie Bishop, told WSB-TV, a CNN affiliate in Atlanta.

The bodies were found on land near Towns' home, about five miles from McRae, police said. A relative came with Towns when he turned himself in Monday morning.

Severson said Towns does not have an extensive criminal record.

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