Husband and Wife Arrested in 2001 Cold Case Murder in Bartow County

On Friday, April 11, 2025, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), along with the Bartow County Detective Unit, the Bartow DTF/SWAT Unit, and the Murray County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Gary Wayne Fowler, age 74, and his wife Mary Ruth Fowler, age 73, both of Chatsworth, GA. The couple has been charged with murder in connection to the death of 51-year-old Travis Silvers.

Travis Silvers’ body was discovered on Saturday, March 10, 2001, inside his 1978 Ford truck in the parking lot of a Wendy’s Restaurant in Adairsville, Georgia.

Gary Fowler and Mary Fowler have been booked into the Bartow County Jail. The GBI has stated that the investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the GBI Tip Line. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

The GBI will continue the investigation. Once complete, the case file will be given to the Bartow County District Attorney Erle J. Newton III’s Office for prosecution.