More than 30 years have passed since the day Rhonda Sue Coleman left her home in Hazlehurst and did not return. Rhonda, 18, was a graduating senior and had attended an event at a classmate’s home on a Thursday. That night, a friend found her car still running by the side of the road, her purse in the passenger seat and her footprints leading from her 1989 Chevy Cavalier to an unidentified vehicle. Three days later, police found her partially burned body in a wooded area the next county over. Since then, her parents, Milton and Gayle Coleman, have fought valiantly to bring the killer to justice but have been frustrated by the lack of information, the poorly managed investigation and what they believe could be a cover-up by law enforcement. “Over the years, we can’t get a lot of answers,” said Milton Coleman, who spoke with me by phone as he and his wife drove through town. Whenever they have asked for information, law enforcement officers have said “we can’t answer that,” Coleman said. ...

On July 1, 2023, the Coleman-Baker Act was enacted in the state of Georgia, allowing families to request that a cold case be reexamined by law enforcement. The act is, in part, named after Rhonda Sue Coleman, an 18-year-old whose body was found in a wooded area in Montgomery County, Georgia, on May 20, 1990.  Dateline featured Rhonda’s story in our “Cold Case Spotlight” series in 2018. At the time, we spoke with Layla Miller Marshall , a classmate of Rhonda’s, who found her abandoned car on the side of the road in Hazlehurst, Georgia, on the evening of May 17, 1990, and called the police. “When her dad drove up was one of my most vivid memories.  He was asking ‘ Layla, where’s Rhonda?’ I said, ‘Mr. Coleman, I don’t know.’ And his eyes immediately filled up with water ,”  Layla said. “I could tell he knew something was very wrong right then.” “Rhonda only lived two miles from my house.” said Layla while explaining why she was driving the same rural road that night.  “...

Trice Thompson, Rhonda Sue Coleman Greg Newham,John Strickland

Will Rhonda Coleman’s 1990 homicide be the next to be solved?  GBI says "we're closing in on him" April 30, 2026, 3:46 PM CDT By  Meghan O'Brien On July 1, 2023, the  Coleman-Baker Act  was enacted in the state of Georgia, allowing families to request that a cold case be re-examined by law enforcement. The act is, in part, named after Rhonda Sue Coleman, an 18-year-old whose body was found in a wooded area in Montgomery County, Georgia, on May 20, 1990. Rhonda Sue Coleman Dateline featured  Rhonda’s story  in our “ Cold Case Spotlight ” series in 2018. At the time, we spoke with Layla Miller Marshall, a classmate of Rhonda’s, who found her abandoned car on the side of the road in Hazlehurst, Georgia, on the evening of May 17, 1990, and called the police. “When her dad drove up was one of my most vivid memories. He was asking ‘Layla, where’s Rhonda?’ I said, ‘Mr. Coleman, I don’t know.’ And his eyes immediately filled up with water,” Layla said. “I could tel...