Suspects were surrounded at Georgia motel

Only hours after Atmore Chief of Police Chuck Brooks sat down with The Advance to talk about ways local residents could protect themselves in the wake of a local manhunt, alleged murders William “Billy” Boyette and Mary Rice were once again in the news.

Tuesday evening, media outlets in West Point, Ga., reported two people believed by local authorities to be Boyette and Rice were holed up in a local motel. Just before 5:30 p.m., Boyette was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and Rice was in custody, according to published reports. The incident marked the end of a more than weeklong manhunt on the part of law enforcement officials in multiple counties throughout northwest Florida and south Alabama.

Boyette and Rice were wanted in connection to the shooting deaths of 30-year-old Alicia Greer and 39-year-old Jacqueline Moore Tues., Feb. 1, in Milton, Fla., as well as the shooting death of 52-year-old Peggy Broz Friday in Lillian, Ala.

The duo was also wanted for allegedly forcing their way into a home in Beulah, Ala. Monday morning and shooting the occupant, 28-year-old Kayla Crocker, before stealing her car. They had last been seen driving the vehicle, a white Chevrolet Cobalt with Florida tag 9613BJ, damage to the right passenger door damage and a sticker of a scull and crossbones on the back windshield.

More on this developing story will be published as the information is received.