UPDATE, September 16, 2025: An arrest has been made in Blake’s murder!!
From People:
The Newnan Police Department in Newnan, Ga., announced Friday that Scotty Elliot Smith allegedly “confessed” to killing Chappell, who disappeared while he walked from his girlfriend’s house to another friend’s house following his high school homecoming dance on Oct. 16, 2011.
“While an arrest has occurred, this is still an ongoing investigation,” police reiterated in a news release last week.
Smith, 38, was charged with “felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, concealing the death of another, and tampering with evidence,” according to police. He is currently being held in the Coweta County Jail, the Newnan Police Department said.
NEWNAN, Ga. – Blake Chappell, 17, was an adventurous soul who loved riding his dirt bike and skateboarding. He had an infectious laugh and was a pro at playing Guitar Hero. By all accounts, he was a good, decent young man.
But some people had issues with the teenager.
Blake had previously lived at Hunter Ridge trailer park in Jonesboro. On May 28, 2011, his former girlfriend ran away from home. He hopped onto his bike to find her. When he did, he took her back to his trailer so she could call her parents.
When the girl’s stepfather, Earl Jones, arrived to pick her up, he punched Blake in the face, knocking him off his bike. Then, Jones repeatedly kicked him in the head and ribs before witnesses.
A witness told the police Jones had lifted his shirt to show a handgun and said he was looking for Blake.
Even though Blake was the victim and helped return the girl home safely, Jonesboro police arrested him for custodial interference on June 2, 2011.
Blake’s bond was set at $2500, and it took him 16 days to come up with the money. Police released him on June 18, 2011, with a scheduled court date on Oct. 24, 2011.
After the incident with Jones, Blake and his mother, Melissa Chappell*, moved to Senoia. She ordered him to stop communicating with his Jonesboro friends because she did not want Jones to discover their new location.
Blake suffered trauma from the vicious assault and developed selective mutism – when he was scared, he could not speak.
According to investigative journalist John A. Winters, who covered this case for The Newnan Times-Herald and posted it on his blog, Just Flip the Dog, Blake also experimented with drugs such as ecstasy.
Blake attended East Coweta High School in nearby Sharpsburg. He met Rion Cameron of Newnan, and the two began dating shortly after the new school year started. It was only natural that Blake and Rion attended the fall homecoming dance together. On the evening of Oct. 15, 2011, Chappell dropped him off at Rion’s house at 25 Avondale Circle. Blake had planned to spend the night at a friend’s house later, so he took his backpack.
Rion’s mother, Shannon Cameron, drove Blake and Rion to Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse on Newnan Crossing Bypass at 5:30 p.m. for dinner before the dance.
Cameron returned to the restaurant at 7 p.m. and drove Blake and Rion to the high school.
At 10:30 p.m., Cameron picked them up at East Coweta High School and drove to her home. According to Cameron, they watched a movie, and Blake took off his black dress shirt because he was still sweaty from dancing. Cameron later returned the shirt to Blake’s mother.
Blake was allowed to stay at Rion’s until 11:30 p.m. At that time, Cameron drove him to his friend’s house on Highwoods Parkway, three miles away.
Blake called his mother using his friend’s landline because he only had a text messaging plan on his cell phone. Blake told Chappell about the dance and said it was the best night of his life.
Shortly after the phone call, Blake and his friend, Austin Harmon, walked to the BP gas station (now Exxon) at 67 Market Square Road, near Austin’s home, around midnight to purchase cigarettes. However, the gas station was closed, and they returned to Austin’s house.
Blake texted Rion at 2 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2011, saying he was coming to her house. The reason for the early-morning visit is unclear.
According to Austin, Blake left between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. to walk to Rion’s home. Austin later said he gave Blake a house key and a jacket so he would not be cold during the walk. The temperature was in the lower 50s. Austin also stated that Blake left his house wearing a white T-shirt, black pants, and Austin’s jacket.
Although the walk should have only taken Austin about an hour, he arrived at Rion’s house around 4:30 a.m. and had to sneak into the residence because he did not have permission from her parents to be there.
According to Rion, she and Blake chatted until her grandmother burst into her room, catching Blake there. Instead of the grandmother telling Blake to leave immediately, she informed Rion’s mother, and Cameron entered the bedroom as Blake fled the residence at 5 a.m. to walk back to Austin’s.
Rion later said Blake wore black pants and a white hoodie with “Aeropostale” in brown letters on the front, not the jacket Austin had given him.
Blake sent multiple texts to Rion apologizing for showing up uninvited and so late at night. Cameron sent him reassuring texts that everything was fine.
After he left, Blake sent more texts to his girlfriend. In the first one, he said that a police officer had stopped him near a bridge and asked for his ID and where he was going before letting him go.
Per Uncovered.com, the Deputy Chief of the Newnan Police Department said, “there was no record of any law enforcement official interacting with Blake that night.”
Blake sent another text at 5:30 a.m. saying he was cold. That was the last text Rion received from him, and she never saw him alive again.
Cameron woke Rion at 6:30 a.m., asking if she had heard from Blake since his last text, and Rion said no.
Three hours later, at 9:30 a.m. Cameron told Rion to call Austin to ensure Blake returned safely. Austin looked around his house and said Blake was not there.
At 10 a.m., Cameron and Rion drove to Austin’s home to search the area for Blake. It’s unclear why they did not call Blake’s home to see if he was there. Cameron called her husband, Matt Cameron, who had left home at 8 a.m. He and a friend were setting up deer stands on hunting property in Heard County. Cameron told her husband that Blake was missing.
Cameron and Rion visited the BP gas station where Austin and Blake had gone and showed the attendant Blake’s picture, asking if he had seen him. The employee said he thought he had seen Blake around 7:30 a.m. A teen resembling Blake asked him when the station opened, and he told him 8 a.m. Blake left, but the man did not see in which direction Blake walked.
Police do not believe this person was Blake.
Matt Cameron returned home around 11 a.m. and searched wooded areas and trails for Blake. At this point, no one has notified Chappell that her son is missing.
Earlier, Rion’s mother dropped off Austin at their home. Matt Cameron and Austin allegedly continued the search. Austin called Chappell, but not to tell her Blake was missing; he wanted to know if Blake was home. What in the bloody hell?
Austin told her about Blake leaving his home to go to Rion’s and never returning. Then, he reportedly flagged down a cop to say Blake was missing. At 11:30 a.m., the Newnan Police Department called Chappell informing her to file a missing person report, which she did at around noon.
The Newnan Times-Herald reported there were extensive searches in the subsequent weeks for Blake, but police found no trace of the missing teen. Authorities believe Blake took Lower Fayetteville Road or Summer Grove Parkway to and from Rion’s home. Blake was unfamiliar with Austin’s neighborhood, Summergrove, so he likely took Lower Fayetteville Road, police said.
Chappell and Rion have said in the media they initially believed Blake ran away to avoid the court date possibly.
Blake was a no-show at his scheduled court appearance in Clayton County Superior Court on Oct. 24, 2011, for the May 2011 incident in Jonesboro, but the hearing proceeded regardless. The prosecution decided to drop the case after speaking to the ex-girlfriend, who confirmed she had run away, and Blake encouraged her to return home.
Winters reported Chappell received a call from Blake’s attorney. Jones informed the judge he would drop the case on the condition that “he never saw Blake again.”
About five weeks after Blake disappeared, Chappell received a bizarre phone call from a blocked number. According to Chappell, no one spoke on the other end, but she could hear the sound of a television playing in the background. The call lasted approximately five minutes.
Rion told Winters in an interview that “around Thanksgiving time, she started getting over Blake’s disappearance.”
“I was mad. I was livid,” Rion said. “I thought he had just left me.”
For real?
On Dec. 19, 2011, bystanders found a body face down in White Oak Creek near a bridge on Summer Grove Parkway and Austin’s home.
When police arrived at the scene, they discovered the victim wore only a T-shirt and underwear. They found no identification or personal belongings in the area. Police said the victim had died from a gunshot wound.
Three days later, investigators identified the body as Blake, partially through his Playboy bunny tattoo and jewelry. A medical examiner concluded that Blake had been shot in the head with a handgun between .22 and .45 caliber.
The death certificate stated the time of death as 6 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2011. Blake was pronounced dead at 4:57 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2011. Authorities have said they could not determine how long Blake had been deceased or if he had been killed in that location or dumped.
Blake’s cell phone, clothes, and wallet have never been found.
It is unclear why searchers never found the body during their “extensive searches” for Blake.
According to Chappel, police have refused to tell her the condition of Blake’s body. She studied the stages of decomposition and asked if his skin was black, and “they said it had started to turn black,” she said. The fourth stage of decomposition – black putrefaction – begins 10 to 20 days following a death, according to the Australian Museum. Blake was found two months after he vanished.
Authorities never revealed whether he had been bound, sexually assaulted, etc.
Investigators had three persons of interest but never released their names. They cleared all three of Blake’s murders. It is unclear if Jones was among the three. Regardless, investigators cleared him of Blake’s killing.
A week after Blake’s remains were found, the Newnan Police Department announced a $20,000 reward available for information regarding his death. It was the biggest reward the city had ever offered.
On Aug. 24, 2022, Season of Justice helped Chappell fund a billboard with Blake’s picture and placed it on Highway 19/41 in Jonesboro.
Chappell and her boyfriend of 11 years split up sometime after Blake’s death. She was later diagnosed with breast cancer and diabetes. Chappell moved to Texas with a relative and underwent cancer treatment there. According to her Facebook page, she lives in Panama City, Florida.
Rion is now in her late 20s and has two children. She still resides in Newnan. I have no idea where Austin Harmon is today.
There is a Facebook group for Blake called “Justice for Blake Chappell.” Anyone with information on Blake’s murder can contact CrimeStoppers of Greater Atlanta at (404) 577-TIPS (8477) or the Newnan Police Department’s Tip Line at (770) 254-2350. You may also send your tip via email to unsolvedhomicide@cityofnewnan.org.
*Melissa Chappell is also listed as Melissa Becker in media reports. However, her FB says Chappell.