The Deaths of Meg Purk and Natalie Jones

On July 4, 2020, 27-year-old Natalie Jones went missing after leaving a party she had attended in Jackson’s Gap, Alabama. Around 1 a.m. on July 5, she texted a friend; “I made it.” Naturally, her friend assumed Natalie was safe and sound, having safely navigated the one-hour drive from her host’s house back to her own in Heard County, Georgia.

Except she wasn’t. For three months, Natalie and her how-can-you-miss-it bright pink 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier seemed to have vanished. Her disappearance was big news; on Aug. 5, 2020, there was an article about the still-unsuccessful attempt to find her.

On October 7, Natalie Jones’ remains were found in a well-traveled but heavily forested area. Weeds and brush surrounded and were entangled in Jones’ undamaged car, suggesting to law enforcement that it had sat there for months. In their press conference, the sheriff’s office also mentioned that Jones had been “diagnosed as bipolar and schizophrenic and is not on her medications,” seeming to suggest a likely connection between Natalie’s mental illness and miserable end. With no autopsy results made public, the elephant in the room became a possible suicide.

The Tragic Loss of Another Young Woman

While the verdict in Jones’ death is still open, Meg Purk’s seemed open and shut. It was a sad day when, around…