TV show puts spotlight on Alabama mom, son missing since 2017
Susan Osborne and Evan Chartrand of Wetumpka have not been seen or heard from since Memorial Day 2017.
Paramount+ recently featured the case of the missing Alabama mother and son in an episode of its docuseries “Never Seen Again.”
The two are both originally from Michigan but moved to Deatsville in 2005 with Evan’s dad, according to Melissa Canfield, the sister-in-law of Susan and Evan’s aunt.
Later, after a divorce and move to Prattville, Susan married Jerry Osborne less than a year after the two started dating, said Canfield. Evan and Susan then moved into Jerry’s Wetumpka residence in 2014.
The docuseries states that Susan and 14-year-old Evan were officially reported missing by family in July 2017. However, friends and family had not seen or heard from the two at least two months prior.
Hollie Morris, the best friend of Susan, said she last saw the missing woman right before Morris moved to Florida, but stopped hearing from her after May 29, 2017.
When police initially performed a welfare check at Jerry Osborne’s residence in 2017 following the missing persons report, he told investigators with the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office that Susan ran away with an unidentified man who picked up the mother and son in a truck. Law enforcement, however, later came back with a search warrant.
Neighbors reported to police that there were multiple fires coming from Osborne’s backyard following Memorial Day that year.
“There were several pieces of evidence and several things that were odd and seem to point in a certain direction,” Elmore County Sheriff’s Capt. Troy Evans told AL.com. “Obviously, nothing to the degree that we had probable cause.”
Capt. Evans said that his team searched multiple locations in an effort to locate the missing mother and son.
“We searched the immediate area around the house, the neighborhood and the wooded areas there,” Evans said. “Every theory and every option that has come available to us or that has come to our attention, we have tried to rule those out and so far have alleviated all of those.”
While this case seems to meet the criteria for a cold case, Evans says he’s hesitant to label the case as such.
“To me that insinuates it’s just sitting somewhere, we’re not doing anything on it. We’re still monitoring news media sources. Anytime there’s a body found around the area, we do try to reach out to the law enforcement agency and just make sure they’re aware of what we got,” Evans said.
He added, “I mean it’s not something we’re actively doing stuff on every day, but you know, as things come up we’re still trying to do as much as we can.”
Canfield said she feels that there is simply a lack of resources being used to help solve this case.
“I just feel like it’s a small town and they don’t have the resources they need,” she said, adding that herself and Morris have reached out to the FBI multiple times in an attempt to find more help.
“I feel we need national attention and we need a little bit more advanced labs to test. Just more resources that aren’t available to small towns.”
She added that the case has affected her family in a tremendous way.
“It’s a nightmare. It’s done a lot — you don’t trust people anymore,” Canfield said. “It’s done a number on all of us.”
She continued, “I don’t know how many times I’ve cried myself to sleep over it with no answers. That’s the worst part of it — no answers. I know they’re gone, but no answers as to where they are. They weren’t trash, they didn’t deserve to be thrown out like trash. They need to have a final resting place.”
Those with any information regarding the case are asked to contact the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office at 334-567-5227 or Crime Stoppers at 334-251-STOP.