PEARSON, Ga. (WALB) — 25 years after his sister walked out of work and was never seen again, Terrell Sallet said he still irons his clothes because she told him never to go anywhere “half-stepping.”

Terrell Sallet said he still waits for a birthday call that has never come, and he said he still believes someone close to the family knows what happened to his sister, Altomease Sallet.

Altomease Sallet, 37, was last seen the night of June 28, 2001, at approximately 11 p.m., when she left her job at the Cady Bag Company in Pearson. She was wearing a blue short-sleeved flowered shirt and blue jeans. On July 2, 2001, at approximately 8 p.m., her vehicle was found abandoned on the shoulder of Highway 64 in Atkinson County, north of Pearson. The front driver’s side window was rolled down and the keys were still in the ignition. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said foul play is believed to be involved.

Her last paycheck was never cashed

Terrell Sallet said his sister had a routine after work. She would cash her paycheck—sometimes at a local convenience store or a liquor store that cashed checks—before heading home.

“From what I understand, her last paycheck was never cashed,” he said. “That’s what I was told. I don’t know that for a fact. I just heard that.”

Terrell Sallet said his sister lived on the old home place in Nichols at the time of her disappearance, along with their mother and brother. He said she likely took County Road 64 as a shortcut home from Pearson rather than Highway 441—the same road where her car was later found.

“I don’t think she would have stopped to help anybody at that time of night,” he said. “I just feel like my sister would never, in the dark, pull over and just stop her car without maybe somebody she may have known or saw.”

Brother says he believes someone close to the family is responsible

Terrell Sallet said he shared his suspicions with investigators. He said he told the the GBI that he believes three people may have had involvement in his sister’s disappearance. He said one of those individuals has since died. The other two, he said, are still living—one male, one female.

“I honestly believe that it’s someone close—family,” he said. “I can’t really say a friend. I think it’s more family-related than it is an outside person.”

Note: WALB chose not to release the names of the family members Terrell Sallet mentioned as they have not been charged with any crime.

Terrell Sallet said he believes his sister would not have stopped her car for a stranger late at night, and that whoever she encountered was likely someone she recognized.

“There’s certain people in our family that when things don’t go their way, they always get other people to do their dirty work,” he said. “And this is just me. I’m going to be truthful.”

Terrell Sallet said he does not believe his sister is still alive.

“I actually think she’s deceased. I believe that,” he said. “Two days—my sister would have showed up. She would have said, ‘Hey, I’m back.’ ...She would pop back up.”

A bond formed with another missing person’s father

While working in insurance, Terrell Sallet said he crossed paths with a regional manager named Billy Grinstead, whose daughter, Tara Grinstead, went missing in 2005—several years after Altomease disappeared. Terrell Sallet said the two men found common ground in their shared grief.

“I would see him and I would ask him—at the time they hadn’t found out what happened to his daughter—and we would kind of spin off,” Terrell Sallet said. “I said, ‘You know, where your daughter went missing and where my sister went missing? It wasn’t that far apart.’”

Terrell Sallet said the two men talked about the cases and the geography connecting them. Tara Grinstead’s case was later solved when two men were convicted in connection with her murder.

“Me looking at my sister and then looking at Tara—although one’s Black, one’s white—I look at it and I say, ‘She kind of resembles my sister a little bit,’” Sallet said.

GBI contacted family for DNA samples

Terrell Sallet said that for the first time in all the years since his sister’s disappearance, he received a call last year from a GBI agent.

“That was the first time out of all the years that I ever heard from anybody at all,” he said.

Terrell Sallet said he provided a DNA swab and that his brother, Tremaine, gave consent to be swabbed.

“I think they may have found something—and they want to run DNA and stuff like that,” he said.

Their mother, who would have been another potential DNA contributor, died in October 2006 and was not available to be tested.

Alligator farm near the Satilla River raised questions

Terrell Sallet said the area around where his sister’s car was found has long factored into his thinking about what may have happened to her. He said he is aware of a former alligator farm located less than a mile from the Satilla River in Atkinson County.

“You’re close to the Satilla River, you know, to 17. There’s a lot of waterways,” he said. “Did somebody kill her and throw her to the gators, or did somebody abduct her and just kept her hostage all these years? I don’t know.”

‘I would welcome her with open arms’

Terrell Sallet said his sister was born Nov. 2, 1963, and grew up in Nichols before moving to Miami with their mother at around age 11 or 12. He said the two siblings maintained their bond through the years largely through birthday calls—a tradition he said never wavered until the year she went missing.

“The year she went missing, I knew when I couldn’t contact her—because she didn’t call me on my birthday,” he said. “No matter what, she would have reached out some kind of way.”

He said Altomease Sallet had a daughter, who was approximately 7 or 8 years old when her mother disappeared. That daughter is now in her early 30s and has a daughter of her own, Terrell Sallet said.

Terrell Sallet said his sister could sing and had a voice she rarely used publicly. He said she would sing Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train to Georgia” when he visited Florida, knowing he would be heading back to Georgia.

When asked what he would say to his sister if she returned, Terrell Sallet said he would not ask questions or assign blame.

“I would welcome my sister with open arms, tell her I’ve always loved her, and I’ve truly missed her,” he said. “Come on, give me a big hug, and let’s go grab a bite to eat. And she’ll sing me my song.”

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