In the summer of 2012, 55-year-old Alma Jean Octetree, a woman with brown hair and hazel eyes, vanished from Asheville, North Carolina. At the time of her disappearance, Alma was experiencing homelessness and was known to camp in the areas around Chunns Cove Road and Town Mountain Road. The last confirmed contact with her was on May 30, 2012, though she would not be officially reported as a missing person by her family for nearly two years.
Known also by the names Alma Edmonds Octetree and Alma Edmonds Bumgarner, she has a distinctive tattoo of a rose on her right calf.
The circumstances surrounding Alma's disappearance are complicated by a significant delay in reporting her missing. This two-year gap between her last known contact and the official report filed in May 2014 created substantial challenges for investigators attempting to piece together her last known movements and activities. Her transient lifestyle further obscured the timeline of when she may have encountered trouble. The lack of immediate investigation meant that potential evidence and witness recollections could have been lost over time, leaving a cold trail for law enforcement to follow.
Adding a layer of concern to the case is Alma's connection to Clarence Octetree, whom she married in 2012. Authorities have noted that Clarence has a history of felony convictions. He was also reportedly the last person to have seen another Asheville woman, Regina Hendrix, who went missing in 2014. While law enforcement has interviewed him regarding both disappearances, he has not been officially named a suspect in either case. In 2019, Clarence was convicted of felony assault in a separate case and sentenced to prison. The investigation into what happened to Alma Octetree remains unsolved, leaving her family without answers and her case a lingering mystery within the Asheville community.Last Seen: May 30, 2012
