Elaine Nix: Something Happened at the Payhone

18 year-old Elaine Nix disappeared from a roadside payphone in 1999. What happened to her and will her killer ever be found?

Elaine Nix: The Day She Vanished

Monday, September 20, 1999, was a slightly cool night just below 65 degrees. Zack’s Food Rack, a convenience store located on Candler Road, in Gainesville, Georgia was only a 5-minute drive from 18-year-old Elaine Nix’s suburban home. At 11 pm the convenience store was closed but Elaine just wanted to use the payphone. For 35 cents she could call her boyfriend, Billy Millwood, and talk as long as she wanted to. She had been banned from calling him from her house because the long-distance bills were too expensive.

Billy lived in Cleveland, which is only about 25 miles from Gainesville but in 1999, it was long distance by phone. Elaine and Billy had broken up for the hundredth time. Like a typical high school relationship, they would break up and reconcile constantly. Elaine drove to Zack’s to call Billy after receiving what has been described as a “disrespectful” page from him.

The day before the fateful call with Billy, which was a Sunday, Elaine was in church and decided to rededicate her life to God. Her mother Becky says, “That’s what gives me peace, to know that whatever sins she did from Sunday morning, ’til Monday night or whenever they killed her, God forgave her.” ¹https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/gone-cold/elaine-nix-murdered/85-498644008

Last call at Midnight

Elaine who was just 5’2” and barely over 100 lbs is described by her childhood friend Jennifer Boyd as being “…like dynamite. She had a heart of gold. She was a very caring person. She had a lot of ambition. She wanted to be a nurse.” Becky described her as silly, bubbly, and outspoken.

Phone records confirm that Elaine’s call with Billy lasted until midnight. After that, Elaine was never seen or heard from again. Around 1 am Tuesday morning, a police officer on patrol saw Elaine’s 1986 Toyota Celica in Zack’s parking lot. He noticed that the hood was still warm, the keys were in the ignition, and cigarettes and a purse were inside. He left the scene without investigating further.

The Investigation Sputters to a Start

When Elaine still hadn’t returned home by the morning on Wednesday, September 22, her mom Becky became worried. Sure, Elaine would sometimes stay a night or two with a friend, family member, or even Billy, but she wouldn’t miss a payday at work. Wednesday was a payday. Elaine worked as a hostess at the Up the Creek restaurant in Gainesville. She wouldn’t have missed work without a good reason. Becky drove to Zack’s because that was the last place she knew Elaine to be. She found her car parked next to the payphone. A store clerk told Becky it had been there since at least that morning, but she was unable to give any further information. She knew that at the least, Elaine wouldn’t have gone off and left her cigarettes.

When Becky found the car, the window was rolled down, the keys were in the ignition and Elaine’s purse, pager, and cigarettes were in the backseat. It was as if she just walked away for a moment and would be right back. The only thing missing besides Elaine herself was her pocket address book.

Becky drove the car home. She didn’t realize that the car could contain evidence of her daughter’s disappearance. Becky told reporter Jessica Noll in 2017, “I just got in the car, and I don’t remember if I left the seat up or not. And I drove home. And, my husband, he was following me, and he said by the time I pulled into the driveway, and when I got out of the car, he said I was just white as a ghost. I knew then that something was wrong with this picture.”

Police Offer Little Assistance

The Nix’s called the Hall County Police Department when they returned home with the car. The police told them that they couldn’t file a police report until Elaine was missing for a certain amount of time.  Going by the last time her mother saw her, Elaine had been missing close to 36 hours at this point.

The Nix Family Investigates on Their Own

While they were forced to wait for police help, the Nix family posted handwritten missing flyers for Elaine around town and even assembled their search parties with friends and family. Of the searches, Jennifer Boyd told reporter Noll, “It was really hard, especially when we were going by the lake—there’s a trailer park right next to Zack’s Food Rack, and there’s railroad tracks everywhere and then the lake,” Boyd said. “But, just coming across, maybe a garbage bag, and it possibly looking like something could be in it and then poking, just to see if… I mean, we all wanted to find her, but we didn’t want to find her that way. So, that was the scariest part—when you would see something that could be, and then checking it out and hoping it’s not.”

Marty Nix (no relation), Hall County assistant county administrator, who formerly served as a lieutenant at the Hall County Sheriff’s Office told the Gainesville Times in 2019, “A crew of investigators started searching  Sept. 22, 1999, first securing the tapes at the convenience store, interviewing people close to her and even bringing out canine trackers.”

Runaway Without her Car?

Becky says that the police treated Elaine like she was a runaway. The sheriff at the time insinuated to Becky that Elaine had run off to Florida with friends, or even left town to become a stripper. It seems inconceivable to think that a teenage girl would leave town without her car, purse, or any money.

Surveillance video from Zack’s did show a small dark pickup truck pulling into the parking lot sometime during Elaine and Billy’s phone call. The driver was never found. In the early days of the investigation, a witness told police they saw a pickup truck with three passengers near the payphone. None of these people ever came forward.

Elaine Nix: A Body is Found

Nine days after she was last seen, 17 miles from Zack’s Elaine’s body was found just past the Hall County line into Gwinnett County, in woods near an isolated industrial park on Verona Avenue. She was found nude, wearing only her jewelry which consisted of a necklace and promise ring. Due to the heat and humidity in the area, her body was badly decomposed and medical examiners were unable to pinpoint the exact time and cause of death. While the death certificate lists the cause of death as “undetermined” the manner of death is classified as homicide. The time of death is estimated to be between 6-9 days of her body being found. Elaine was identified by her dental records and tattoos, one of a frog on her ankle and one of a butterfly on her lower back.

Police set up roadblocks around the industrial park which in 1999 was lined with heavily wooded areas and bordered with no outlet streets. Unfortunately they were unable to learn any new information. Both the industrial park and Zack’s are located close to interstate 85 and are known as areas where truck drivers would park for the night to get some sleep. The prevailing theory is that Elaine was a victim of opportunity and was taken by a trucker who just happened to drive by. The police say they never really had any leads, solid or otherwise to investigate.

Years Pass by with no Answers

Elaine’s boyfriend Billy Millwood has never publicly stated if Elaine told him of any suspicious people or vehicles while they were on the phone that night. She did tell him she loved him. The early days of the police’s investigation focused on him, but he was eventually cleared by phone records.

Elaine’s family buried their daughter at the Memorial Park in Gainesville. They have a graveside remembrance ceremony every year on September 29th.

In a 2009 Gainesville Times article written by Stephen Gurr, Jennifer Boyd, said:

“The main thing is to let everyone know there is a killer out there, and that we’re not going to forget about Elaine and her case and what was done to her, we want to let people know that we want justice, we want closure, and we want her to be able to rest in peace.”

Elaine Nix’s Family Deserves Answers

If you or someone you know has any information in Elaine’s murder please call the Gwinnett County Georgia Tip Line at (770) 513–5390. There is a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer.