Commercial Appeal Covers Missing Elvis Fan Story
Gerrie Lawrie, 40, did not catch a flight home to Aberdeen, Scotland, as scheduled, prompting former Shelby County sheriff Gene Barksdale to file a missing person report with Memphis police on Saturday.
“Her mother called me (Saturday) to let me know that she didn’t arrive on the flight she was supposed to arrive on,” Barksdale, 89, said today.
“Nobody has been able to locate her, even her Facebook disappeared off the Internet, which is rather strange, you know,” Barksdale said.
Late this afternoon, Memphis police reported finding a woman's body at 612 Denmark, near the area where Lawrie was staying. Police said there were no obvious signs of foul play, but that the investigation is ongoing.
Barksdale said he had not seen the Elvis fan since escorting her to her rented vehicle in a Downtown parking garage last week.
Barksdale, sheriff from 1976-86, including the date of Presley’s death on Aug. 16, 1977, said he met Lawrie two or three years ago at a fan meeting in Memphis where Elvis took karate lessons.
“People from Scotland, England and around the world, if you knew Elvis they wanted to talk to you,” he said.
Barksdale said that he, Lawrie and two others last week met for a dinner Downtown at The Peabody and then went to TGI Friday’s in an adjacent hotel.
Barksdale said today that they met last Monday. However, a missing person police report lists the date as Thursday.
“I’m 89 and my memory is not what it should be,” Barksdale said. He said he had confirmed with the couple at the dinner that it occurred on Monday.
Because his vehicle was parked nearby, about 11:50 p.m. Barksdale drove Lawrie to a parking garage at Second and Monroe, according to the police report.
He said he walked with her to the second story, where her vehicle was parked, and she gave him a lift back to his. Driving a rented, silver Dodge sport utility vehicle, she headed west on Union toward a condominium that she had rented in the 600 block of Denmark near the South Bluffs.
“I haven’t seen her since,” Barksdale said.
Lawrie also mentioned that she planned a one-day trip to Nashville. The rental car company reported that the vehicle had not been returned, according to the police report.
Barksdale said Lawrie works for an oil company in Scotland and has two grown sons.
John Helms, a Memphis artist who said he met Lawrie through Barksdale and helped act as a host during her visits, said this was her sixth visit to Memphis and that she arrived on Aug. 9.
Lawrie initially stayed at a hotel near Graceland on Brooks Road, but moved later to the condominium.
In addition to her Facebook page being deleted, Helms said, she has not answered his attempts to reach her by e-mails, cell phone and the Skype Internet service.
“Either she has turned off communication or else someone has for her,” he said.
He also said, “She wanted to move here real bad.”
Helms described Lawrie as a blonde, outgoing world traveler. The missing person report lists her as 5-foot-7 and 110 pounds.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (901) 528-CASH.
© 2011 Memphis Commercial Appeal. All rights reserved.
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