Christy Lyn Garrard, also known as Christy Morrison, would have turned 49 on May 16, 2023. Unfortunately, she disappeared without a trace nearly 25 years ago, leaving behind two small children and a family in mourning, longing to see her again.
Christy was born to Olen and Debbie Morrison on May 16, 1974. She has a sister, Michelle. Christy, 24, was a “free spirit” who cared for herself and her two children, Kristian Garrard, 8, and Karissa McCall, 2.
Christy, a divorcée, was beautiful with reddish brown hair (which might have been dyed blond at the time of disappearance), green eyes, and a slim frame.
She was last seen in a white pickup truck with a male friend around 9 a.m. on Roden Avenue in Boaz, Alabama, on Aug. 14, 1998. Christy had spent the previous night with the friend.
The friend told the police he dropped her off at her maternal aunt’s house, but none of Christy’s relatives saw her there.
Christy had called Kristian before she vanished, telling him she would be back the next day and they would go bowling. But she never showed, and no one heard from her for a week.
The Morrisons said Christy often stayed with friends and relatives, so they initially thought nothing of her disappearance. However, when she had not called after a few days, her parents reported her missing to the police.
Christy’s father was the Boaz fire chief. He and several friends from the fire and police departments searched long hours “above and beyond the many organized searches following leads in the investigation,” the Birmingham Post-Herald reported in a 2002 article on Christy and her family.
“I’ve probably rode 20,000 miles looking for her,” Olen told the Post-Herald. “If I come in with scratches, she knows where I’ve been. And we’re still looking.”
Olen later wrote a song, “Jesus, My Brothers and Me,” about the search for his daughter. Jack Toney recorded the song, and it played on local radio stations and was sung in church.
The search for Christy eventually stopped, and the case went cold.
According to The Charley Project, a 16-year-old DeKalb County boy told Boaz and DeKalb County authorities in January 1999 that he knew where Christy was killed. Police searched about six miles northeast of Boaz near Cross Creek in Aroney but determined the boy had lied.
Acting on a tip in November 1999, police searched the Point of Pines community near Guntersville but found nothing.
In February 2011, fishermen found a skull in Lake Guntersville, about 20 miles north of Boaz, and authorities compared dental records. However, it did not belong to Christy.
In 2000, the Morrisons held a memorial service for Christy and purchased a headstone in Hillcrest Cemetery near their home in Boaz. Kristian would ride his bicycle three or four times weekly to visit.
Christy’s children are now in their 20s and 30s. According to Kristian’s Facebook profile, he still lives in Boaz. It’s unclear where his sister is living now. There is no mention of the children’s fathers.
Olen and Debbie Morrison eventually divorced, and Olen remarried in 2008. He retired as fire chief in 2009 after serving 32 years with the Boaz Fire Department. Debbie died in early 2018.
Contact: Investigator Gary Stanfield
Phone: (256) 593-6812
Alternate Contact: ACMEC
Alternate Phone: (800) 228-7688
True Crime Diva’s Thoughts
I wrote about Christy’s disappearance because it needs attention. There is little info available.
Obviously, I think the white male she had spent the night with harmed her. She was last seen on Roden Avenue, so this might be where he lived. It appears to be a primarily residential area.
A Crimewatchers.net user, Akoya, posted the information below in the forum on Feb. 29, 2020, stating that Christy’s mother had written it on a now-defunct missing persons site.
Here is an excerpt:
“Christy’s name was Christy Lyn Garrard; she was last seen on Aug 15th, 1998, on Roden Ave in Boaz, Alabama. It was about 9′ o’clock in the morning she was with a male friend. His name is Phillip Kilpatrick. She had spent the night at his home. He tells us that he took her to my sister’s house. They were seen in a white pickup truck. She never made it to my sister’s house, and Phillip’s parents have hired a lawyer to hinder any more questioning of him. I really don’t think he hurt her, but I’m sure he knows who did.”
Her mother further wrote that Christy had used drugs, and the family knew it. Debbie also said Christy had hung out with a “rough bunch of people.”
I found a Phillip Kilpatrick in his 60s living in Boaz, so I do not know if that is him or some relation to him. Was Phillip her connection to drugs, a boyfriend, or both? Why did he lawyer up if he is innocent?
