On 07-11-1996 at approx 07:13 hrs the victim, Robert Dennis Blair Adams, was found dead at a motel under construction on Crosswood Blvd. near the Strawplains Rd Exit of 1-40 in Knox County. The victim was a white male, 32 years of age at time of his death. The victim was a Canadian citizen who left Canada without advance notice to family or friends.
He flew to Washington D.C. from Seattle Washington on 07-10-1996. He rented a vehicle and drove to Knoxville. He stopped at the BP station on Strawpiains Pike and locked himself out of the rental car and was unable to find the keys. He called a tow truck and made arrangements to have the car towed until the next day when the rental company could be contacted to get the key number to have a new key made. The tow-truck driver dropped him off at the Fairfield inn motel to stay the night. The victim rented a room but, it is believed that he never entered the room.
The next morning on 07-11-1996, he was found dead. Robbery did not appear to be a motive because his money and other items of value were not missing. The victim knew no one in the area, and his reason to leave Canada or where he was headed was not known.
The case has been profiled on the show Unsolved Mysteries.
On July 20, 1985 the burned body of Betty Joyce Brown,aka Simmons, was found in the woods at 3805 Maloney Road in South Knox County. The 29 year old Austin-East graduate had been stabbed before being burned. Ms. Brown was last seen on July 14, 1985 between midnight and 1:00am in front of the Bread Box at Magnolia Ave and Spruce Street. It is believed that Ms. Brown was offered and accepted a ride from an unknown subject. Ms. Brown’s last know address was 2737 Tarleton Ave. Initial investigation indicated that when Ms. Brown’s body was found, she had been dead approximately 1 week. Family members described Ms. Brown as being a “very sweet and loving mother.”
If you have any information please call the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit at (865)-215-3520/3590 or e-mail coldcase@knoxsheriff.org.