Rutherford County Sheriff's Office Wants to Solve Cold Murder Case from 1980

Feb 25, 2016 at 08:28 am by bryan


The Rutherford County Sheriff's Department continues to investigate a case that dates back to 1980. George Reffner was an employee of Thompson and Green Machinery in LaVergne (Today, Thompson Machinery) when he went missing. He was last seen alive at the Outlets Limited Mall in Murfreesboro (Now, Verizon Wireless Call Center). He was later found dead on the side of I-24 in Smyrna.

As of Thursday, February 25, 2016, the person who shot Reffner multiple times has yet to be brought to justice. Detective Dan Goodwin stated...

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Reffner had no past criminal record when he was killed and his case has turned cold. If you have clues that could help deputies, call the Detective Dan Goodwin at the Sheriff's Office at 615-904-3034.

More (In Detail):

Assistant District Attorney J. Paul Newman spoke to Detective Dan Goodwin in detail about the case...

Additional Information from the Sheriff's Department:

George Reffner, a 34-year-old employee of Thompson and Green Machine in La Vergne, was reportedly last seen by his wife and young sons the night of Oct 28, 1980. The next morning Reffner's wife told company officials he had not returned home after going to test drive a car and then buy a coat at the new Outlets Ltd. Mall in Murfreesboro.

A company employee drove toward Murfreesboro on I-24 and found the red 1980 Toyota in which Reffner had left and called RCSO. Then-Sgt. John Brown met the employee near the 72 mile marker eastbound.

Brown noticed what appeared to be a shirt off the side of the highway on a rock outcropping. Upon investigation, Brown found the clothing was a dead man. The company employee identified the deceased as George Reffner.

Manner and cause of death was determined to be homicide by gunshot wound.

Investigators learned Reffner was a hardworking provider and caring father who had no apparent enemies. They were unable to develop leads or witnesses that could lead to prosecution and the case went cold.

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