Thrasher murder becomes ‘cold case’

Published 9:23 pm Tuesday, July 3, 2007

When Robbie Thrasher was found dead in the trunk of his car near Mooresville in 2002, Limestone County investigators thought they could find his killer.

But after five years with no arrest, they admit the case has gone cold.

“The leads are gone,” said Limestone County Chief Investigator Stanley McNatt. “With no new information about it in more than two years, it’s now a cold case.”

The chief investigator has not given up hope of one day making an arrest.

Thrasher, 31, was killed by a man he was trying to meet near Mooresville at 1 a.m. Nov. 3, 2002. Evidence shows the killer was likely driving a Chevrolet Silverado, year and color unknown.

The county and state offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.

“We have nothing left to go on,” McNatt said. “It’s been a longtime since we’ve had a tip. All the leads we had — nothing panned out.”

An autopsy shows Thrasher was gagged and suffered a wound to his head. It appears he was struck in the head with some kind of sharp-edged instrument.

A friend found Thrasher’s navy Chevrolet Lumina on Pryor Road near Mooresville. When Limestone County Sheriff’s Department investigators searched the car they found Thrasher’s body in the trunk.

Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely said Thrasher was gay and frequented spots in that part of the county that are known to be regular gay hangouts.

Blakely said Thrasher may have been robbed because a set of golf clubs that the family said were in his car before he disappeared were missing when the body was found.

Thrasher worked at Cinram Manufacturing in Decatur.



McAnally case

Another unsolved murder in southeast Limestone County is now in the hands of Huntsville police.

Noelle Virginia McAnally, 26, of Huntsville was murdered in Huntsville and her body dumped in a creek in Limestone County, McNatt said.

“Since the murder occurred in Madison County, it is their case,” McNatt said. “I know they have had some pretty good leads and may even know who the killer is, but they don’t have enough evidence at this point to make an arrest.”

Two fishermen canoeing Piney Creek, just west of the town of Mooresville, found her badly decomposed body in the summer of 2004.

Dental records identified the victim as McAnally, a homeless woman. It appeared her body had been in the water at least five days before being found.

McAnally had been divorced for about a year, Blakely said, and living with a man in an apartment complex in the 2300 block of Bob Wallace Avenue in Huntsville.

Her death may have been connected with three unsolved homicides in Huntsville, authorities said.

The three women frequented an area of Hall Street, which is a hangout for the homeless and prostitutes. Authorities said McAnally was not a prostitute, but she took rides with strangers and often stayed in rescue missions.