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Family Continues to Seek Justice 14 Years after Terry Rewis Was Killed in a Hit-and-Run

"There are just so many questions. All these years, I've just had so many questions."
Terry Rewis
Terry RewisRewis Family
Terry Brooks Rewis
Terry Brooks RewisRewis Family

Willene Bryant has spent the past 14 years wondering. Wondering what happened to her brother the night of April 21, 2002. Wondering if it really was just a horrific hit-and-run accident. Wondering if, perhaps, it was something much more sinister.

"There are just so many questions. All these years, I've just had so many questions and it's like my little brother has been forgotten about," Willene told Dateline.

Willene's youngest brother Terry Brooks "Bubba" Rewis was found dead on the side of Highway 56 in Emanuel County, Georgia. The 23-year-old had reportedly spent the evening at a festival with a group of friends, but, for reasons unknown, he reportedly headed out to walk the six or so miles home by himself. A group of people driving along the highway spotted his battered body and called 911.

Willlene was the first in the family to hear about her brother's death, and was the one to break the news to the rest of her family. "That was the hardest day of my life," she told Dateline. "Having to tell our siblings and our mother. You cannot imagine how that feels."

The Emanuel County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia State Patrol responded, but officials said there was little evidence at the scene. Any follow up tips that came in were pursued. However, no progress was ever made in identifying who drove the car that hit Terry.

Terry's family has their own suspicions. Rumors over the years have persisted and whispers that Terry was either hit by someone who knew he would be walking along that highway, or wasn't even hit at all. One story is he was in the back of a pick-up truck and an altercation ensued between him and another man he was traveling with, ending with him being thrown onto the roadway.

Either way, Willlene simply wants answers. Terry's family held a small rally on Saturday, hoping to raise greater awareness about his case. There is also a Facebook page titled 'Is there NO Justice for Terry Brooks "Bubba" Rewis' where Willene posts frequent pleas for anyone with information to come forward.

She believes there is more than one person who knows the truth.

In October of 2015, the Emanuel County Sheriff's Office reopened Terry's case. There is currently a $1,000 reward offered for information that helps solve Terry's case being offered by the sheriff's office.

Although Terry had had past run-ins with authorities in his life, things were beginning to change for him, according to his sister.

"Terry's life was hard. It started off hard and it seemed to get harder. But he was trying to put it back together and put things on track," Willene told Dateline. "We are a poor family, and sometimes it seems like people just don't care. But we aren't going to give up looking for justice for my baby brother. Never."

If you have any information regarding Terry's case, you are urged to call the Emanuel County Sheriff's Office at (478) 237-7526.