Eric Blevins

Missing Presumed Deceased – July 2005 – Selma, AL

Dallas County

The mysterious disappearance of Eric DeWayne Blevins, a 23-year-old from Selma, AL, has puzzled investigators and haunted his family for over 15 years. Eric was last seen leaving the Travelers Inn on foot on July 23, 2005, and since then, no one has had any contact with him.

Eric’s father, Dwight Woods, was a deputy with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and last spoke with Eric over the phone on July 22nd. Eric was living with his mother at the time, but he frequently stayed with his cousin, Dorothy Blevins, at her residence on Lamar Street. It was there that Eric reportedly left on July 23rd to visit another cousin, John Dale Blevins, at the Travelers Inn on W. Highland Ave.

According to reports, Eric left the inn on foot later that day to visit friends at Merrimac Apartments, and a witness reported seeing him heading in that direction. However, the exact time Eric left Dorothy’s residence is unknown, making it difficult to establish a timeline of events. It is also unclear which of his cousins had contact with him last before he disappeared.

In an October 2005 update, Detective Bert Allison of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office told the Selma Times-Journal that investigators believed Eric may have visited John Dale Blevins at the Travelers Inn after leaving Dorothy’s home on the 23rd. An unidentified witness claimed to have seen Eric traveling, presumably walking, in the Merrimac area. However, no solid leads emerged from these reports, and it remains unknown what happened to Eric.

Despite numerous calls from locals claiming to have seen Eric and later a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction in Eric’s disappearance, no new information has been found. A cadaver dog was even brought in to search an area behind Tipton Middle School after a tip was received saying Eric’s body would be found there, but the search yielded no results.

Eric’s family describes him as a well-liked individual who would never harm anyone. He was planning to attend truck driving school the following month and had no reason to disappear. Yet, here we are, almost 18 years later, with no answers.

“If he’d gotten into any type trouble he’d have called me… I know he was grown, (but) we were close. It’s been tough. It’s real hard… the agony of not knowing where he’s at, the agony of not knowing if he’s dead or alive.”
Lt. Dwight Woods, Eric’s Father, Selma Times-Journal, 9/28/05

His father filed a petition in 2015 to have Eric legally declared deceased, which was granted on March 4, 2015. However, Eric continues to be listed in the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) databases as an active missing person.

It is worth noting that both ALEA and NamUs list Eric as missing since July 29, 2005, but it is unclear why this date is used instead of July 23rd, as was previously reported.

Eric is described as an African-American male who is approximately 5’8 to 5’9 and 140 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a blue jersey, black pants, and brown house shoes.

Learn more about Eric’s case in Episode 9 of Unforgotten.