Buried Alive, He Survives

Buried alive under a foot of dirt and bleeding from a throat wound, Forrest "Butch" Bowyer wouldn't give up. Not with his son's killers still on the loose.

So Bowyer, 54, clawed his way to freedom, flagged down a car and helped police arrest the men he said dumped him and the body of his son in the same shallow grave.

Based on Bowyer's information, two men were captured and charged with murder Monday.

"It was God's way of keeping him alive so he could tell," said Billy Carrico, a friend. "If he hadn't survived we might never have known what happened to him."

Bowyer underwent surgery and is expected to recover, officials said Tuesday.

Michael David Carruth, 43, and Jimmy Lee Brooks Jr., 22, are charged with capital murder and could be sentenced to death if convicted of fatally shooting Bowyer's 12-year-old son, Brett.

The two men also face charges of attempted murder, robbery and kidnapping, officials said. Both were being held without bond, Sheriff Tommy Boswell said Tuesday.

In addition, the men will be charged for the double-murder of Thurman Ratliff, 68, and his wife Katherine Ratliff, 62, at their home Jan. 30, said Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones. A third man, James Edward Gary, also will be charged with capital murder.

Jones would not comment further about the connection.

Carruth, who works as a bounty hunter for his wife's bonding company, and Brooks showed up at Bowyer's brick, ranch-style home late Sunday night claiming to be narcotics officers, Boswell said.

The men targeted Bowyer for a robbery and kidnapping because he owns a used-car lot and has a reputation for carrying large amounts of cash, Boswell said.

The men allegedly forced Bowyer and his son into a car and drove about 20 miles south of town to an area where a highway is being widened. After Bowyer gave them money, the men slit his throat and shoved him into a grave they had dug about 18 inches deep, Boswell said.

Bowyer was slashed "ear to ear," but the cut wasn't deep enough to sever any major blood vessels, Boswell said. "He played dead. He just knew he was dying or fixing to die."

Bowyer heard gunshots, and his son's body was pushed into the hole on top of him. Boswell said the killers covered the grave with dirt, and Bowyer began digging his way out as soon as they left.

"He was in there about 10, 15 minutes," Boswell said.

Bowyer managed to unearth his son's body and walked about one-fourth of a mile through woods to U.S. 431, where he flagged down a car.

"He called us on a cell phone and I had a deputy two miles away. We got an ambulance there but he wouldn't leave until he showed us where the body was," Boswell said.

Officers found the boy's body atop the grave a few minutes after the ambulance left with Bowyer, he said.

Bowyer gave officers a description of the men's automobile, which Boswell said was stopped with Carruth at the wheel early Monday. Brooks was captured later Monday in neighboring Lee County.

Therwas no answer at Tri-County Bonding, owned by Carruth's wife, and home phone numbers for Carruth and Brooks could not immediately be found.

Carruth and Brooks aren't strangers, according to a court records. Carruth, as an agent for Tri-County Bonding, posted $35,000 in bonds Aug. 15 to get Brooks out of the Russell County Jail on six counts of breaking and entering motor vehicles.

By Elliot Minor © MMII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed