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WEDNESDAY I OCTOBER 09, 2019 DaWSOflNeWS ^COITI DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA $1.00
Murder suspect arrested in Penn.
Stryker, 5 others now in custody for Lumpkin County killing
By Alex Popp
DCN Regional Staff
Authorities say that Austin
Todd Stryker, the man who is
considered a prime suspect in
the recent murder of a Lumpkin
County woman, has been taken
into custody.
After several weeks spent on
the run from multiple law
enforcement agencies, Stryker
turned himself in to authorities
in Pittsburg, authorities report
ed on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
“Efforts to return him
to [Georgia] are in prog
ress,” the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation
said via Twitter.
Stryker is accused of
killing Hannah Bender,
a 21-year-old woman
from Dahlonega, whose
body was discovered in
a shallow grave off
Parks Road in north Forsyth
last Wednesday.
Bender was reported missing
in Lumpkin County by her
mother on Sept. 19 and
shortly after bloody
clothing was found in
nearby Dawson County.
At a press conference
held last week,
Lumpkin County
Sheriff Stacy Jarrard
said that authorities
believe that Bender was
killed at a campsite in
Lumpkin County, but the
search for her body involved
law enforcement authorities
from multiple agencies and
crime scenes in Lumpkin,
Dawson and Forsyth counties.
Six arrests have been made
during the investigation.
Stryker’s wife, Elizabeth
Donaldson, 21, was arrested
Wednesday, Sept. 25 — the day
law enforcement found
Bender’s body — and charged
with tampering with evidence.
Jerry Harper, 78, was arrested
Sept. 27 in Dawson County and
charged with theft by receiving
stolen property and driving
while license suspended or
Stryker
revoked, but the GBI previous
ly stated it had taken warrants
out for Harper for “conceal
ment of dead body” and “tam
pering with evidence” in
Forsyth County.
Then, on Monday, Sept. 30,
Dawson County residents Isaac
Huff, 18, and Dylan Reid, 19,
were arrested in Dawson by the
GBI.
Huff has been charged with
one felony count for concealing
death and is accused of allow
ing another to keep Bender’s
body on his property.
See Arrest 14A
Collins inspires next generation
Photos for the Dawson County News
Congressman Doug Collins greets fifth graders at Kilough Elementary School Oct. 2. Congressman Doug Collins
greets fifth graders at Kilough Elementary School Oct. 2.
Congressman visits fifth grade class, discusses what its like as a legislator
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
Congressman Doug Collins stopped
by Kilough Elementary School last
Wednesday to talk to fifth graders
about what it’s like to be a legislator.
Fifth grade teacher Amy Tankersley
invited Collins to speak to her class on
Oct. 2 where he talked with the stu
dents about government and policy
making.
“He was super personable,”
Tankersley said. “He was super inter
active. He asked the kids questions. He
did a little activity where they pretend
ed that they were going to pass a law
and had to them all vote like they were
members of the House of
Representatives.”
Tankersley said her students enjoyed
getting to meet their United States rep
resentative. Collins has represented the
9th District of Georgia, which includes
Dawson County, since 2013.
“They thought it was the coolest
thing that he talks to the president on
the phone on a semi-regular basis and
that he’s met like five or six presi
dents,” Tankersley said. “He did a real
ly great job.”
It’s not the first time Tankersley has
had guest speakers in her classroom.
Last year she had George Washington
and a Revolutionary War reenactor
come speak to her fourth grade class.
She said she would gladly invite
Collins back to talk to her students.
“It was really educational. It tied in
with our standards, and he had a good
message too. He talked about how he’s
friends with other congressmen who
have very different opinions than him
and how they can still work together to
solve problems,” Tankersley said. “I
thought that was a really cool message
for the kids, how he was like ‘just
because you have a different opinion
doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a
bad person’ and he talked about how
they can work together.”
Special land use
application for
Iron Mountain
Park approved
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
The future of Iron Mountain Park was
made clearer for Lumpkin and Dawson
County residents after the Lumpkin
County Board of Commissioners unani
mously approved the project’s Special
Land Use Application (SLUA) at its regu
lar session meeting Oct. 1.
The status of the project was last dis
cussed on May 7 when Lumpkin County
commissioners voted to table the project
until the Oct. 1 meeting in order for offi
cials to gather additional information and
for the proposal to address a “lack of
specificity.”
Iron Mountain Park is a 4,300-acre
ATV park and music venue located in
Lumpkin and Dawson counties. Property
See Park 17A
Third annual
NOA talent
show Sunday
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
The third annual North Georgia’s Got
Talent Show is coming back to
Dawsonville this Sunday afternoon.
Ten acts from across Georgia will gath
er together at the Performing Arts Center
at Dawson County High School on Oct.
13 to put on a show that raises money for
No One Alone (NOA), a local domestic
violence shelter serving Lumpkin and
Dawson counties.
Last year’s show raised more than
$15,000 to support the nonprofit’s efforts
to provide counseling services as well as
See NOA 17A
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Inside
Volume 4, Number 55
© 2019, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
3B
Classifieds
7B
Dear Abby
6B
Deaths
2A
Legals
4B
Opinion
9A
Sports
1B
3A DCES unveils
new ballistic
vests, pet
oxygen masks
4A Spooky things
L to do near
Dawson this
October
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