Time To Fall Back.,.
Sleep in. There's an extra hour for it.
Eastern Standard time resumes at 2 a.m.
this Sunday morning, October 25
Shucking in The Big Time
Three local oyster pickers finish in the
money at the National Oyster Shucking
Contest in Maryland. Page 7-A
What A Racquet!
The West Brunswick girls' tennis team
beats South to finish with a perfect 12-0
season. Page 12-B.
Thirtieth Year, Number 5
< /^i /9y
HOAG & SONS BOOK
p o. BOX 162
SPRINGPORT
North Carolino, Thursday, October 22, 1992
50* Per Copy 40 Pages, 3 Sections, 3 Inserts
NATIONAL TV SHOW AIRS STORY
Accused Molester. Wife Arrested
In Nevada; Children Found Safe
BY ERIC CARLSON
A nationwide television broadcast and a clip
ping from The Brunswick Beacon helped a dedi
cated detective bring about the arrest of accused
child molester Robert Burroff Jr. and his wife
Gail at a Reno, Nev., homeless shelter Tuesday
night.
The four Burroff children were safely taken in
fn nictryjv Ku fh<? Daha TVniftmpnt r%f Q/v*io1
Services after the arrest, according to Brunswick
County Sheriffs Detective Nancy Simpson.
Brunswick County DSS workers will arrange to
fly them home later this week, she said.
"The officers who made the arrests said they
believed the children were kind of relieved, like
they were tired of being dragged around from
town to town," Simpson said.
Burroff is being held in the Reno jail on two
felony charges, Simpson said. His wife has been
jailed on a warrant charging her with being an ac
cessory after the fact to a felony.
Fugitive warrants were issued for Burroff when
he failed to turn himself in after being indicted
Aug. 31 on one charge of first-degree rape and
two counts of taking indecent liberties with chil
dren.
He was last seen Sept. 4 by a woman in Ocean
Isle Beach, who told police she had taken him to
meet his wife at the local fishing pier that day.
NP!!?hhnr<: livinc near Mrs. BurmfTc mnhij?
home on Stone Chimney Road told Simpson that
they had not seen the mother or her children
Sarah, 12, Melody, 11, Michael, 8, and Sammy,
2, since the fourth.
A search of the trailer indicated the family had
left suddenly without even taking the children's
shoes, clothing or diapers, Simpson said. Food
"I was so happy to know
they were alive. I just knew
one of those girls had left
that article there as a
message , 10 iry 10 get some
help
? Detective Nancy Simpson
was left defrosting in the sink and clothes were
still hanging on the line.
On Friday night, the Burroff case was a fea
tured segment on the Fox Television Network
program "America's Most Wanted," which asks
viewers to phone in lips on crimes and missing
persons.
The show told the BurrofTs story and revealed
that an article clipped from The Brunswick
Beacon had been found on a gasoline pump at a
San Antonio service station Oct. 6. The clipping
was the second page of a Sept 24 story about the
family's disappearance, Simpson said.
The article urged anyone with information
about the Burroffs to call the Brunswick County
Sheriff* Denartment. Howrvrt. ihf nhrwv* num
ber did not include the area code, Simpson said.
So the man who found the clipping first called au
thorities in Brunswick, Ga., and Bmnswick
County, Va., before finally reaching Simpson.
The discovery brought her mixed feelings.
"I was so happy to know they were alive. I just
knew one of those girls had left that article there
as a message, to try to get some help," Simpson
said. "But I was also afraid of what might happen
to her when he found out what she'd done."
Feeling increasingly desperate, and with no lo
cal clues to the Burroffs' whereabouts, Simpson
last week contacted the producers of "America's
Most Wanted." She sent photos of the family and
a copy of the Beacon article, which was shown
j : ?i_ _ i i
UUIIII5 U IV UIVAOUUUU
The discovery of the article in San Antonio fo
cused Simpson's attention on Texas. One of the
dozens of calls she received came from Ronald
Megs, director of the Star of Hope shelter in
Houston.
Simpson called Megs Monday afternoon. He
told her the Burroffs had been staying at the shel
ter under their own names since Sept. 6, two days
after they were last seen in Brunswick County.
A counselor at the shelter told her the children
appeared healthy. She said they had been attend
ing a local school. Simpson also learned that the
Burroffs had applied for food stamps and other
public assistance programs, suggesting that they
might have intended to stay in Houston.
Megs also told Simpson that the Burroffs had
planned to stay at the Star of Hope until Oct. 22.
Instead, they checked out on Oct. 8, two days af
ter the Beacon article was discovered.
Simpson said she alerted Houston police and
the Harris County ShcrifTs DcpHrtir.s nt to chcck
other shelters in the area. A bulletin was issued to
watch for Gail Buroffs 1986 Honda Accord.
Finding the clipping in San Antonio, about two
hours drive from Houston, led Simpson to believe
the Burroffs might be planning to cross the bor
der, where it would be next to impossible to ex
(See BURROFFS, Page 2-A)
PRESIDENTIAL RACE SPURS REGISTRATION
Voter Turnout Predicted At 70 Percent
RV CIICAM licucn
BY SUSAN USHER
Local political and election officials are pre
dicting Brunswick County's largest voter
turnout ever on Nov. 3, spurred largely by inter
est in the race for the presidency.
"What's bringing it on is the presidential
election. This time it's so open, and with the de
bates they're having, there's a lot of interest,"
said W.A. (Bill) Stanley Jr. of Brick Landing,
chairman of the Brunswick County Democratic
Party.
He's seen higher interest reflected in volun
teer activity and in a last-week surge in registra
tions. Several precinct officials ran out of blank
forms due to heavy activity the last day registra
tion was open, Oct. 5.
When the books closed, Brunswick County
had 32,769 registered voters, according to
Lynda Britt, supervisor for the Brunswick
County Board of Elections.
That is a gain of 2,848 over the May primary
and an increase of 4,423 or 15.6 percent over
the last general election in November 1988,
"/ think it will be the
highest (turnout) we've
ever had . I wouldn't be
surprised to see it around
70 percent
? Lynda Britt
Elections Supervisor
when 28346 people could vote. It reflects even
higher registration activity than might first be
apparent. Since 1988, Britt said the county has
also "purged" voter records, removing between
4,000 and 5,000 persons from the registration
lists.
Briu said she isn't certain how to account for
the large increase.
"I don't know what the meaning is. I don't
know if it's retired people who take their voting
seriously or if it is young people wanting to
have a voice in their future, or both," she said.
In 1988, Brill's prediction of a 60 percent
voter turnout was right on the money, with the
actual turnout at 62.5 percent.
This year she's predicting even higher voter
participation.
"I think it will be the highest we've ever
had," she said two weeks prior to the election. "I
wouldn't be surprised to see it around 70 per
cent"
Stanley agreed thai interest in the general
election is up considerably from four years ago,
when he was also serving as party chairman.
"What interest there was then, was for Bush,"
he recalled. "This time it's just a complete 180
degree turn -around. We've had people who
have been in the county three or four years and
never registered that wanted to register this
time.
"I think we're going to have one of the great
(See REGISTRATION, Page 2-A)
Police Still 'Stymied' By Ash Man's Murder
BY ERIC CARLSON
The Brunswick County Sheriffs
Department is seeking information
from anyone wlio might have seen
Ronald Everett Evans, 20, of Ash in
the hours before he was shot to
death beside a dirt road off N.C. 130
north of Shalloue Monday night,
Oct 12.
A horseback rider discovered
Evans body face down in the bushes
beside the unpaved extension of
Mulberry Street on the edge of the
Inside...
Birthdays ..2B
Business News 12C -
Calendar of Events ...... .6 A
Church News ??*??*???***?*? 14A
Classified .................... 1-8C
Court Docket 10C
Crime Report 11C
Entertainment ?....5B
Fishing 8A,9C
Golf I2B
Obituaries ?......14A
Opinion .4-5A
People In The News 4B
Plant Doctor .3B
Sports. ? ...8-12B
Television Listings .....6-7B
Green Swamp Sunday afternoon. He
had been missing since about 7:30
p.m. the previous Monday, when he
left his stepfather's home in Ash to
buy dinner at a Shallotte fast food
restaurant.
Evans' champagne colored 1986
Honda Accord was found the next
day by employees at the Brick
Landing Plantation golf course. It
had been nosed into a swampy area
on a dirt road on the golf course
property. Inside was the unopened
bag of food from the Burger King in
Shalloue.
"We need help from the public on
this one," Detective CapL Phil Perry
said Monday. "We know he got to
the Burger King at about 8 o'clock
and that he was alone when he left.
He must have stopped someplace
and met someone between there and
where his body was found.
"Somebody had to have seen him.
We need that person to come for
ward and help us make this thing
gel," Perry said.
From interviews with family and
friends, police have determined that
Evans had originally planned to
cook for himself and his girlfriend,
Jacqueline Smith, Monday night.
Instead he decided to get dinner at
Burger King at meet her back at
home after she got off work at the
Revco drug store in Shallotte.
He borrowed $10 from his step
father, Dewayne
McCumbee, and
left for Shallolte.
He said he
would call his
mother Marion
McCumbee if he
was going to be
late. The call
never came.
"We know he
was serviced at evans
Burger King and we know he was
alone. After that we draw a blank,"
Perry said. "We're just stymied."
Evans body was found with two
gunshot wounds, one in his back and
one in his leg. It appealed that he
had been killed where the body was
discovered and that there might have
been some sort of altercation. The
body was sent to Chapel Hill for an
autopsy.
The rutted dirt road where the
body was found runs from the end
of the pavement on Mulberry Street
north, then forks about a half mile
away with one prong intersecting
N.C. 130 and the other connecting
with Big Neck Road.
Evans lived on Big Neck Road in
Ash. Mulberry Street ends near
Freeman's Place, a popular night
club where two shootings have been
reported in the past month.
Perry would not say if there was
any evidence to connect Evans with
Freeman's Place.
"From what we know, he was a
likable kid who stayed out of trouble
and didn't get into fights," Perry
said. "He wasn't the type to just take
off and leave without letting some
body know."
Except for one minor speeding in
fraction, the Brunswick County
Clerk of Superior Court shows no
record of Evans being arrested.
Evans' car, still bearing a tempo
rary license tag, was parked at the
county impound yard in Bolivia
Monday. There was no sign of dam
age inside or out The car appeared
to have been thoroughly dusted for
fingerprints.
Late Tuesday, Perry said Det
ectives had received several tips and
conducted numerous interviews, but
were no closer to finding an answer
to Evans' fate.
"We still don't have anyone who
can positively say they saw him af
ter he left Burger King," Perry said.
Anyone with information on the
case or who remembers seeing
Evans or his car last Monday night
is urged to call the Brunswick
County 911 or the sheriffs depart
ment at 919-253-4321 or 1-800-672
6379.
STAFF I
A Jubilant Winner
A beaming Shirley Simmons of Supply greets her considerable
cheering section qfter winning the Oyster Shucking Contest at the
close of last weekend's N.C. Oyster Festival Simmons took top
prize after coming in second in the contest for each of the past
three years. More festival photos and stories, inside.
Simmons Claims
Shucking Title At
1992 Oyster Fest
BY SUSAN USHER
It was Shirley's day.
After coming up second three
consecutive years in a row, Shirley
Simmons shucked her way to a win
Saturday at the North Carolina
Oyster Shucking Championship at
Seaside.
Cheered on by a North Carolina
Oyster Festival crowd that included
many of her coworkers at a
Shallotte Point oyster house,
Simmons shucked 24 oysters in
2:31:68, seconds faster than any of
her six competitors. That lead held
in judging for nearness of presenta
tion, with an adjusted time of
2:57.68.
For her efforts she received a
check for S100, a plaque and an all
expenses-paid trip to the National
Oyster Shucking Championship in
Leonardtown, Md., next October 16
and 17.
First runner-up Dorothy Hill of
Shallotte received a check for $75
for a tray shucked in an adjusted
time of 3:02:13. Third-place and
S50 went to first-time entrant Chuck
Watson of Myrtle Beach, S.C.,
whose adjusted time was 3: 16:56.
Simmons, a Supply resident, has
been shucking oysters for 15 years.
She picks at Lloyd Milliken's
Oyster House at Shallotte Point, as
do three other entrants in Saturday's
contest. On her best day, Simmons
says she has opened 110 pints of
oysters.
Last year, after hearing her name
called as first runner-up for the third
time in three years, Simmons
vowed, "I'm just going to keep
coining back until I win."
Saturday, she said it "felt good"
to win, though she had entered con
vinced she would not.
With her winnings, she added, "I
might take my family out to eat."
Contest chairman Annette Odom
said she was pleased with the
crowd's enthusiasm.
"I loved having the audience out
there going wild like that," she said.
"It added a lot to the contest."
The shuckers' showdown was the
highlight of the 12th annual N.C.
Oyster Festival, sponsored by the
South Brunswick Islands Chamber
of Commerce to boost "shoulder
season" tourism and the economy in
general of its service area.
Unseasonable temperatures in the
mid-80s Friday dipped overnight,
and when cloudy skies cleared mid
day Saturday, it was cool.
"Perfect oyster-eating weather,"
was how Glenn Humbert, chairman
of the Brunswick County Shrine
Club's food service, described it.
"It was a great day for us," he
said. "Everybody's real tired right
now, but we'll be back next year.
"Shriners served more than 800
buckets of oysters in two days, in
cluding 500-plus Saturday, as well
as other seafoods. Steamed oysters
were an addition to the Friday
menu.
While the club has no plans to
add fried oysters to its menu (too
(See FESTIVAL, Page 2-A)