BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — Billy Wayne Hearon is more than just a man whose cold-case murder took nearly 40 years to come to an arrest.
"He's somebody, not just a picture sitting here or a name in the paper," Joyce Tipton, Hearon's sister, said. "He was real."
Tipton is one of Hearon's more than a dozen siblings and said her large and loving Blount County family was rocked by Hearon's murder in January 1985.
Last week, Maryville Police and the Blount County District Attorney General's Office said suspect Roger Oody was arrested and charged with murder in Hearon's death.
Now, Hearon's family wants people to know who he was.
"We grew up together of course," Tipton said. "He was in our family. He was loved. And we still love him today."
Hearon's parents, Lena and Arvel Hearon, had a large family. Tipton said a ring was made for her mother that had to be held together by three gold bands because there was a gemstone for all 16 children and stones for both of her parents on it.
There's a family photograph that was taken after Hearon died, but his siblings made sure to put him in it.
"See, we had to place Billy Wayne in the picture," Tipton said, adding he was a veteran, brother, son, friend and father.
His son, Preston Hearon, said he was young when his dad died, but he wishes some of his aunts and uncles, and especially his grandmother, were still alive to hear that someone had been arrested in his dad's murder.
"She would be the most relieved and she probably deserves the most relief, because no mother should have to bury their child," Preston said. "No mother should have to deal with everything that happened."
Preston said if he could, he'd tell his dad that people were fighting for him, even decades after his murder.
"I'm glad that they were able to be your voice and to solve, this horrible, disgusting tragedy," he said. "And people did not give up on you."
Tipton said that the family experienced a range of emotions when they found out Oody had been arrested in Hearon's killing.
She said she's thankful for Maryville Police Detective Arthur King, who brought a fresh set of eyes to the cold case.
King told 10News in May that he'd sent some evidence from the case to be tested by the FBI.
"He was wonderful, he worked very, very hard, and we appreciate that so much because it had been years since the case was really, really pursued," Tipton said. "He came into the Maryville Police department and he worked very hard. and we thank him so much."
Blount County District Attorney General Ryan Desmond said someone called in a tip to authorities after the story 10News did on Detective King's investigation aired.
Tipton said she hopes her brother's case can bring some encouragement to other people whose family members are victims in a cold case.
"Keep hope," she said. "In our case, it wavered through the years because it had been so long. But there's always that possibility."