On July 25, 2015, Lauren Agee, 21, went to Wakefest with her friends. The next day, she would be dead.
Lauren Agee was born on August 19, 1993, in Biloxi, Mississippi. She moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee with her mother, stepfather and three siblings. Lauren was offered a dancing scholarship but turned it down to study Criminal Justice at college.
On July 25, 2015, then aged 21, Lauren went to Wakefest with her friend Hannah Palmer. Wakefest is an annual wakeboarding event in Tennessee. It takes place on Center Hill Lake. In the day, professional wakeboarders compete and at night everyone enjoys themselves partying.
Lauren and Hannah drove to Wakefest together. They were also going to the event with Hannah’s boyfriend, Aaron Lilly, and his friend Chris Stout.
That night, Chris Yarchuk, a security guard at the event said he saw Lauren at the bar and that she left with Hannah, Aaron and Chris at around 2 am. They walked down to the dock and took a boat to their campsite.
Kassi Franks, a high school friend of Lauren’s, also saw her that night at the dock. She said that Lauren had made it very clear that night that she had no interest In Chris Stout and that she just wanted to have fun with friends. Lauren was already in a happy relationship.
Lauren believed that she and Hannah were going to be staying in a cabin, and had told her mother that that was the plan. In actual fact, she was supposed to stay on a clifftop campsite. It was opposite the marina. One side of the cliff was a 35-foot drop down to the lake below, and the other side was a 90-foot drop to the lake. When Lauren found out they weren’t staying in a cabin, she asked Kassi if she could stay with her but there wasn’t any room. Kassi said; “Lauren did ask if she could stay with my group, but I just, we didn’t have any room. That was the very last time I saw her.”
On July 26, Lauren’s mother Sherry had tried calling and texting her to check in and make sure she was okay but she didn’t get any response. That afternoon, father and son Lynn and Dylan Blair went fishing on the lake and found Lauren’s body in the water.
Police spoke to Hannah, Aaron and Chris, who told them that they had all been drinking and were drunk by the time they made it to the campsite. Hannah said she and Aaron slept in a tent and Chris and Lauren had slept in a hammock which was situated close to the edge of the cliff. Hannah claimed that when they woke up Lauren was gone. She said she didn’t report her missing because she thought Lauren had gone to meet someone. This is despite the fact all of Lauren’s belongings were still at the campsite, including her phone, wallet and flip-flops. Christ Stout claimed that at some point during the night, Lauren had gotten up and told him that she was going to meet someone, but he didn’t know who.
The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department said it found no evidence of foul play. They believed that Lauren fell off the edge of the cliff and died from either the fall itself or drowned. Lauren’s blood alcohol level was found to be twice the legal limit.
The official report said Lauren died of blunt force trauma from falling off a steep cliff into the lake and possibly drowned. Her death was ruled an accident and the case was closed.
Lauren’s family weren’t satisfied with this, and understandably so, not many questions had been answered. Lauren’s mother Sherry began looking into her daughter’s death and hired private investigator Sheila Wysocki. Sheila reviewed the autopsy report and saw what appeared to be a bite mark on Lauren’s breast, and she believed Lauren’s body showed signs of strangulation. In an interview, Sheila said; “When you start looking at the autopsy and crime scene photos, and you look at her injuries, they weren’t adding up.”
Forensic scientist Mark Gillespie claimed Lauren’s injuries were not consistent with a fall. If she had fallen, she would have had deep bruising, severe scrapes, cuts, and lacerations, but she didn’t, and her clothing was in a “pristine” condition and not torn which would have been likely with a fall.
In December 2016, Sherry Smith, Lauren Agee’s mother, filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against Hannah Palmer, Aaron Lilly, and Chris Stout. The complaint alleged that Hannah, Aaron, and Chris either intentionally, recklessly, or negligently caused Lauren’s death.
Detective Taylor, who investigated Lauren’s death was deposed as part of the suit. He stated that he had no training in investigating homicides and had never worked on a homicide case before. There was no attempt to collect DNA from Lauren’s body, and no rape test was carried out. The detective also admitted that he did not interview the men who found the body, nor attempted to interview any nearby residents.
Lauren’s body was found quite a distance away from the cliff edge that she had supposedly fallen from. A hydrologist determined that it would have been impossible for Lauren’s body to float against the current to the place where her body was found.
Mr Leiker, a former police officer, was asked to give his opinion as part of the suit. He said he believed Lauren’s death was a homicide. He stated several factors that made him come to this conclusion, including the fact there were injuries on Lauren’s body indicating that she was involved in a struggle prior to her death, such as symmetrical injuries to her back, consistent with a body being dragged, and multiple injuries inconsistent with a fall.
Hannah, Aaron and Chris all pled the fifth, although Hannah did give a statement later saying; “The profound sadness I experienced when learning of the death of my best friend, Lauren Agee, has only been approached by the painful allegations I somehow contributed to her death.”
The judge dismissed the lawsuit on the basis that there was insufficient evidence that Lauren’s death was anything more than an accident.
In 2019, an appeals court ruled that Sherry Smith could in fact sue Hannah, Aaron and Chris in relation to Lauren Agee’s death. The three have all maintained their innocence. Hannah and Aaron have apparently since gotten engaged.
Whilst this case is technically solved, there are so many unanswered questions, and points that just don’t add up, it doesn’t sit right to just accept that Lauren’s death was an accident.
Sources:
https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/mysterious-death-lauren-agee
https://www.chillingcrimes.com/blogs/unsolved-mysteries/lauren-agee
https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/25-lauren-agee
https://medium.com/@lisariggio1994/the-death-of-lauren-agee-accident-or-murder-4031f8502c02
