Kidnap and attempted murder of Tammy Crowe by David Eatherly profiled on Dead Silent

Dead Silent is investigating the case of Tammy Crowe, who suffered a brutal rape and attempted murder at the hands of David Eatherly in Georgia in 1987.

On March 28, 1987, Tammy set off from Riverdale, GA., to have dinner with her boyfriend and friends, but tragically, a chance encounter with Eatherly in a grocery store parking lot led to a terrifying and life-changing ordeal.

Tammy had pulled up at a grocery store when he first approached her with a request to use her jumps cables. He then forced her at knifepoint into the footwell of the passenger seat of her own car.

Eatherly then drove them to a secluded wooded area not far from the grocery store. He then forced her down into the bottom of a creek, where he sexually assaulted Tammy in the most brutal fashion. At one point, Tammy managed to make a break for it, but unfortunately, her attacker caught up to her.

He attempted to slit her throat, but the blade wasn’t sharp enough, so he resorted to violently stabbing his victim approximately 13 times. On realizing she was still breathing, he took off his belt and attempted to choke her to death. Thinking he had killed Tammy, he then fled the scene.

Incredibly, Tammy was still alive. Despite her horrific injuries, she managed to crawl out of the creek and up a 75 ft hill and eventually came across a couple of construction workers who telephoned for help.

She was airlifted to a hospital in Atlanta, GA, where she was taken into an emergency room and given life-saving surgery.

Tammy Crowe helped cops put David Eatherly away

Shortly after her wounds had been treated, she gave the cops a very detailed description of her attacker.

The cops decided to pass the description onto the few industrial businesses located in the area where Tammy endured her ordeal. Within a few days, a human resources manager responded to the cops by stating that one of their employees, Eatherly, matched the description.

Eatherly had fled the area, but the cops soon learned he had family in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and they were able to track him down. He was arrested in Kentucky three weeks after his attack on Tammy.

In July 1987, Eatherly pleaded guilty to all charges against him and was sentenced to two life sentences. There had been an arrest warrant out on Eatherly for various offenses in Kentucky, which meant he also received a further 20 years in prison.

Tammy did her best to get her life back on track; she got a college degree, married her boyfriend, and had a family of her own.

More from Dead Silent

Follow the links to read about more crimes profiled on Dead Silent.

Rickey Lewis and two other men broke into the Texas home of George Newman and Connie Hilton. Newman was shot dead while his fiancee was brutally raped for over an hour.

Previously on Dead Silent, Debra Brown and Alton Coleman embarked on a brutal cross country, murderous spree where they kidnapped, raped, and killed numerous people, including children.

Dead Silent airs at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.