18-year-old Jolee Callan was a bright and promising young woman living in Vincent, Alabama, in 2015. Jolee was preparing to go to college and embark on a new adventure in her life.
Despite only being 18, Jolee had experienced a lot of turmoil in her life but had managed to put it behind her.
Shortly before leaving for college, Jolee agreed to take one last hike with her ex-boyfriend, Loren Daniel Bunner.
Unfortunately, this would be Jolee’s last hike, and her life would end in one of the most unimaginable ways possible.
The Beginning
Born December 29th, 1996, in Alabama, Jolee enjoyed a typical upbringing. Articles noted she lived ‘The All American Life’ attending Vincent High School, watching the school’s football games, and making life-long friends.
Jolee explored many subcultures, finding she fit into the alternative scene. In response, Jolee dyed her hair pink and purple and had posters of her favourite bands in her room. In 2014, Jolee was in her final year at Vincent High School and was focused on her finals.
That focus would soon be shifted when she met 20-year-old Loren Daniel Bunner. The pair instantly hit it off, and they quickly became boyfriend and girlfriend. Jolee was never without Loren, something he demanded.
Friends and family quickly noticed how possessive and jealous Loren was whenever Jolee spent time with others. Eventually, Jolee would end up putting all of her time and energy into him.
A Toxic High School Romance
As Jolee was in her final year, she wanted to pour her time into revision and studying for the finals that would decide her future.
Again, this made Loren angry, and as the months passed, Jolee began to notice his alarming behaviour too. On multiple occasions during the short 10-month relationship, Jolee tried to break up with Loren, but for Loren, this was not an option.
Every time Jolee told Loren she was leaving him, he would threaten to take his own life, manipulating Jolee into staying with him.
Despite the promise that he would change his behaviour, Loren continued to be manipulative and controlling. After 10 months, Jolee decided she couldn’t take it anymore, breaking off their relationship for good.
As expected, Loren threatened Jolee, but this time, she ignored him. Whilst Jolee flourished out of the relationship, Loren repeatedly begged and couldn’t accept that it was over.
It took several weeks for Loren to come round to the fact that they were no longer together, but he had another way of ensuring he still had contact with Jolee.
The pair had gotten a dog together, and he asked Jolee if they could still be friends. Jolee, being a friendly, outgoing, and kind person, agreed they could still be friends and that Loren could come and visit their dog, Kiba.
The Final Hike
By August 2015, Jolee was seeing someone new and was preparing to start college. She was excited and optimistic about her future and showed no signs of feeling down.
This statement may seem odd here; however, it comes into play later in the story. Loren and Jolee continued their regular visits with Kiba, and all seemed to be well.
On August 30th, 2015, Loren invited Jolee for a hike in the Alabama wilderness. The friendship had been steady, and Jolee fully trusted her ex-boyfriend.
Later that day, Jolee and Loren arrived at the Cheaha State Park with their dog, Kiba. The pair decided to walk a section of the Pinhoti Trail, which sits in the southern Appalachian Mountains and extends to Georgia.
During the hike, Loren took several photographs and uploaded them to his Instagram page.
The first showed a picture of Jolee and Kiba in the car, with the caption “On our way to go hiking <3”. Followed by a picture of Jolee holding Kiba in her arms with the caption “Oh, ya know. Just enjoying the view.” The final photograph uploaded to Loren’s Instagram is perhaps the most disturbing.
The photograph shows Jolee holding her phone/camera and taking a picture on a cliff. Jolee continued snapping away, not knowing what was about to unfold.
Moments after taking the final photograph of Jolee Callan, Loren pulled out a .22 Ruger Bearcat revolver and shot Jolee twice in the head, killing her instantly.
As if the brutality was not enough, Loren then leaned down to Jolee’s dead body and pushed her off a 50-foot cliff, sending her plummeting below.
After killing his ex-girlfriend in cold blood, Loren grabbed his dog, left the state park, and got into his car. Mere moments after shooting his ex-girlfriend dead, Loren made a call to 911, requesting the assistance of Alabama Police.
When asked by 911 operators what the problem was, Loren coldly admitted that he had just murdered his ex-girlfriend, Jolee Callan. Local police arrived soon after, finding Loren calmly sitting in his car. Loren told officers what had happened and pointed to where they could find Jolee’s body.
Over The Cliff
An officer stayed with Loren to interrogate him, whilst other officers headed into the Cheaha State Park. After a short walk, they came across the cliffside that Loren had pointed out to them.
As they peered over the edge, they saw the body of 18-year-old Jolee Callan 50 feet below. Officers arranged to have her body safely recovered, and upon recovery, they confirmed she had been shot twice in the head, as described by Loren.
Loren Bunner was swiftly arrested and charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Jolee. Officers reported finding blood on Loren’s steering wheel, along with a large amount of blood at the scene.
Jolee’s family was heartbroken when they were informed their bright spark had been snuffed out by a monster. Hours before Jolee went on the hike with Loren, she had jokingly texted a friend, “If something happens to me, you’ll know who I was with.”
An autopsy revealed Jolee had been shot once in the back of the head and once between the eyes. When questioned, Loren claimed he and Jolee had made a suicide pact, but he had been unable to go through with it.
Jolee’s family immediately refuted these claims, stating she was in a new relationship, about to enter college, and showed no signs of mental illness or a desire to take her own life.
A Tricky Trial
Few within the community believed Loren’s story either; they knew Jolee as a bright and intelligent young woman with a solid future ahead of her.
On September 4th, 2015, friends, family, and the community gathered at Vincent Cemetery for Jolee’s funeral. Dozens turned out to pay their respects to the slain teen and offered their condolences to the family.
Jolee’s family would face further heartache just weeks after her funeral when Loren Bunner posted his $15,000 bond and was released from custody in the Clay County Jail.
The community was enraged that a killer was free to walk among them, and they made it known to Loren. He continued with his initial defence that it had been a suicide pact created by star-crossed lovers.
In November 2015, Loren Bunner’s trial officially began, and the eyes of Clay County lay heavily on the judge. In a shocking turn, Loren’s defence requested that he be granted ‘youthful offender status’.
In Alabama, an offender under the age of 21 is eligible to apply for this status, no matter the severity of their crimes. This status ensures the offender will serve no more than 3 years in prison.
Shockingly, Loren was granted this status, causing uproar in the courtroom and community.
Loren Bunner was taken away to a youth detention centre to serve his 3-year sentence, but Michael Callan, Jolee’s father, was not about to let him get away with killing his daughter in cold blood. Michael embarked on a campaign to have this status removed.
Michael called local news stations, politicians, and even started an online petition. This petition quickly created chatter online and spread across multiple social media accounts.
Now, people outside of Alabama and even the U.S were petitioning for Loren to face real justice. Thankfully, in December 2016, the youthful offender status was rescinded, and Loren was to be tried as an adult.
Reports from the youth offender centre where Loren was being held indicate he had bragged to his cellmates about his crime.
He also said that “if he couldn’t have her, nobody could,” finally revealing his true intentions. Loren had waited patiently for the right moment to implement his twisted version of ‘justice’ for Jolee breaking up with him.
On July 13th, 2017, Loren Daniel Bunner appeared again before the Clay County Judicial system, this time as an adult. Prior to this final hearing, Loren’s defence requested a psychiatric evaluation for his client, claiming that Loren had suffered from mental illness.
The defence also claimed that Loren was possibly autistic; however, this did little to sway the decision to remove his youthful offender status.
During the July 13th hearing, Loren Bunner finally pled guilty to the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Jolee Callan. This guilty plea spared the Callan family a lengthy and disturbing trial.
As a result, he was sentenced to serve 52 years in prison and pay $9,255.92 in restitution to Jolee’s family.
District Attorney Jeffrey Willis commented after sentencing, saying, “This senseless and selfish crime has been a terrible loss to the family and friends of Jolee and a loss to the community as a whole. Nothing that was done here can correct that. I am, however, grateful we were able to conclude the case without the necessity of putting the family through a trial.”
Leave a comment