On the evening of December 24, 2021, a grim discovery was made in a home in Dandridge, Tennessee, shattering the peace of the holiday. Edward W. Atkins, a 70-year-old Caucasian male, was found deceased inside his residence. He was not alone; the body of his 43-year-old daughter, Melissa J. Burgess-Smith, was also discovered at the scene. The Sevier County Sheriff's Office was called to the Asheville Highway home around 9:30 p.m. following a report of a shooting.
Investigators arriving at the residence were met with a violent scene. Both Atkins and his daughter had been fatally shot, and their deaths were quickly ruled as homicides. An autopsy would later reveal the precise and brutal nature of their final moments. Atkins suffered a single gunshot wound that entered his left cheek and exited the right side of his neck. His daughter, Burgess-Smith, had been shot twice, once in the mid-back and once in the left buttock. Toxicological reports indicated a small amount of alcohol in Atkins's system, while his daughter had several substances, including methamphetamine and amphetamine, in hers.
The investigation, a joint effort between the Sevier County Sheriff's Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, has been ongoing since that tragic Christmas Eve. Authorities determined that the last known contact with the victims was a phone call Edward Atkins's brother, Jeffery Atkins, had with them around 4:30 p.m. that day. Despite the violent nature of the crime, neighbors reported hearing no gunshots, though they did notice the presence of law enforcement later in the evening. Investigators collected memory cards from a neighbor's surveillance system, but the footage did not yield any suspects.
No weapon was recovered from the home, but investigators did find two spent cartridges near Burgess-Smith's body and another on the porch outside. The lack of a clear suspect has left the community and family searching for answers. Jeffery Atkins has speculated that the killings could be drug-related. In an effort to generate leads, a $10,000 reward has been offered for any information that leads to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the double homicide. To date, no arrests have been made, and no suspects have been publicly identified, leaving the case unsolved.
