Alumni Magazine - Fall 2008 - (Page 26) “The likelihood of them being found safe is almost passed. But you hate to be the one to say that.” The Calverts worked hard to make Harbour Town a beautiful, popular destination. They would return to Atlanta on fall Saturdays to take their seats in Bobby Dodd Stadium, right, and cheer for the Yellow Jackets. years, and “he wasn’t the type of person who would kill himself,” she says. “He was a major factor in assisting the Calverts, and he was a good friend of theirs. It would be easier if they’d been swindled by a bad guy, but that wasn’t the case.” Others say Gerwing wasn’t capable of making two people disappear, dead or alive. One acquaintance said he couldn’t lift much more than a sack of groceries, and another described him as “a fat guy who drank a lot of wine.” He also had no criminal history in Beaufort County, not even a misdemeanor. There’s also the matter of the note. While covering a candlelight vigil for the Calverts in March, a reporter from Savannah TV station Fox 28 found a rain-soaked note on her windshield that read, “This goes deeper than Dennis. Stay on it. Their [sic] are more people involved.” And some say Liz and John ran off or were taken into a witness protection program. Because of all the uncertainty, Whitener says she holds out hope the Calverts are alive. She looks across the marina to the couple’s yacht, which has a black shroud covering its name to deter gawkers. “I have just as much evidence that they’re alive as that they’re dead,” she says. “Sometimes you think they’ll never come back, or then by some bizarre way you think they will. It’ll drive you nuts.” A Last Visit his spring, the father of a Beta Theta Pi alum passed away, and several of the alum’s friends and their wives gathered for the funeral. The fraternity brothers, including Rich Reynolds and John Calvert, had grown close at Georgia Tech and kept up through the years. After John and Liz shifted their focus to Harbour Town, they often hosted fraternity brothers and their families. John and Liz once took Reynolds, his wife and three children out on the Yellow Jacket to see dolphins in the bay. T 26 After the funeral, the friends decided to go out for drinks. They ended up talking for hours. “It was good to catch up,” Reynolds says, his voice wavering. “They were talking about how exciting things were, how the businesses were ramping up. We said, ‘We’ll be down there, we’ll see you as soon as we can.’ “So we head off, and two days, three days later, I get up and I’ve got text messages saying John and Liz have disappeared.” This fall, John’s class will be celebrating its 25th anniversary during Homecoming. Now, the class members have to decide how to handle John’s absence — to create a memorial or hope for a miracle. “I’m very doubtful we’re going to come to a good end,” Reynolds says. “Emotionally, you want to hold out long-shot odds. As time goes on, you have to be more understanding that that’s probably not going to happen.” Another of John’s pledge brothers, Mark Boozer, ME 83, has followed the disappearance closely and grown increasingly worried as news on the case slowed to a trickle, then stopped. “The likelihood of them being found safe is almost passed,” he says. “But you hate to be the one to say that.” Come Homecoming, those who knew John and Liz will return to campus, uncertain of what happened or how to proceed. They’ll hold events — though likely more somber than usual — and head to Bobby Dodd Stadium to see the Yellow Jackets take on Virginia. And they might walk through the east stands, where John and Liz had seats in Club 2, the 17th row. But, as with so many places, the Calverts won’t be there. Carrying On avid White talks quietly and sparingly about his sister and brother-in-law and about the strain he’s had, not just dealing emotionally with their disappearance but also keeping Harbour Town running in their absence. D Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Fall 2008
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