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A Georgia firefighter “caused a disturbance” at an Olive Garden restaurant where her ex-boyfriend was on a date then went outside and keyed his car, just days before the pair went missing.
The bodies of Chandler Kuhbander and Reaegan Anderson were discovered on Sunday in a car in Cocke County, Tennessee.
Both were employed as firefighters in Hinesville, Georgia, which is near Savannah. Details about how they died have not been released, though the bodies have been sent for autopsy.
Police have been attempting to piece together their final hours, after Anderson was last seen on June 25 at a Liberty County Fire Service station.
Police later said that Anderson also appeared on surveillance footage from a gas station in Prosperity, South Carolina. Kuhbander was not seen on the footage, though his mother claimed that his phone had also been tracked to that location.
The mysterious disappearance came after a police report from June 22 cited an incident between the pair at a local Olive Garden in Pooler, Georgia
Anderson had come into the restaurant “where Mr Kuhbander was on a date,” the report, cited by WTOC 11, said. “Ms Anderson caused a disturbance with Mr. Kuhbander and she walked outside and keyed his vehicle.”
Anderson was charged with criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct following the incident.
Kuhbander’s mother, Jane Kuhbander, posted on social media days after her son was last seen. She claimed that her son was “coerced” by Anderson and that she was a danger to herself. She also claimed that Kuhbander did not go with her willingly.
Police have not backed up those claims.
The pair were reported to have been previously romantically involved but had broken up before they went missing.
According to Jane Kuhbander, she first noticed something was awry when her son did not show up for his sister’s birthday party. “Sometimes he’s a little late, but he’s never not there,” she told WTOC 11.
On the same day, the Liberty County Fire Department conducted a welfare check at Anderson’s home. No one was found inside, though a note – thought to be left by Anderson – was.
Kuhbander was last seen on surveillance footage leaving the gym.
"At 11.40 my son walks out of the building and he looks very comfortable, like he just had his workout," Jane Kuhbander told WJCL, prior to the discovery of the two bodies. "He doesn’t look rushed as he walks through the parking lot. After that, we don’t see him again.
“You don’t want to be in this position,” she told the outlet, “and when you see it on television, I can see how they feel. Then it hits you, like, I am that person. I do feel that way. This is terrifying and you have no answers.”
The Hinesville Police Department said that details pertaining to the discovery of the bodies, the vehicle and the events leading to their deaths are currently not available at this time.
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told The Independent that the investigation was active and ongoing.
“At the request of 4th Judicial District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn, TBI agents are working alongside the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the circumstances leading to the death of two people after their bodies were discovered inside a vehicle along Hollow Road in Cosby on Sunday morning,” the statement read.
“The bodies have been sent for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death and to be positively identified. At this time, the investigation remains active and ongoing.’
