On January 26 of this year, a 78-year-old Jonesboro man was found shot multiple times in the bedroom of the home he had owned for 30 years in the 1800-block of Shady Grove Road.
His sister, who was his partner in a family farm operation they owned jointly, says the detectives on the case are "doing everything they can" to bring justice for Donald Clayton Hubbard
"He was retired...he and I had our parents’ farm and we were partners," said Sharman L. Loggains. "They have yet to make an arrest, and we just want to see justice served."
Hubbard, formerly of Harrrisburg, was discovered inside the Shady Grove residence on January 26 during a welfare check. Hubbard’s stepson contacted law enforcement after he was unable to get him to answer the door and when officers arrived, they found Hubbard’s body.
According to the incident report, Hubbard had been shot multiple times.
Jonesboro detective Chad Hogard said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that there is a "person of interest in the almost eight-month-old case and that the reward for information in the case had risen from $500 in March to $3500 today.
"Its an active an open investigation and we do have a person I wouold classifiy as a 'person of interest'," said Hogard. "I can't say much beyond that."
Neighbors described Hubbard as a quiet neighbor wo was an avid historian, loved football and hunting, and was a coin collector. A 1959 graduate of Harrisburg High School, he attended a few years at ASU in Joneboro.
He sold insurance in Memphis for several years and then farmed with his father in Harrisburg. and spent a few years in the Arkansas Army National Guard.
"We feel like the person was known to him, since the home wasn't broken into, and we feel like the motive was financial," said Loggains. "I have been told by investigators and our attorney to not say much more than that."
Back in March, authorities said they were offering $500 cash reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of a suspect in the case. That amount has risen to $3500 as of today.
Ironically, Loggains said her brother was named after an uncle, Jihnson Clayton Morgan, who she contends was murdered in Hope, Arkansas in 1939.
"Nothing was ever done...here wasn’t even an investigation launched or an inquiry into it," said Loggains. "And that should have at least happened on the part of the Missouri Pacific railroad because he was an employee and so was my grandfather."
"There was a carnival in town and the story was always that some of them did it as he was “ seeing” a carnival girl. The sheriff just went to them and told them to pack up and leave town which they did as soon as possible. And then, nothing. Never a thing."
"They 'said' he tried to hop a train as his body was found on the tracks. The coroner ruled he died from a blow to the head. He worked for the RR and didn’t have to hop trains," said Loggains. "The state police should have come in on that but they didn’t and the railroad should have been proactive in pushing for answers too, but it’s like no one gave a damn."
"My grandparents weren’t forceful people,they were humble and shy,from a different era when speaking out could cause people big trouble and grandpa had to have his job as section foreman so they had to just let it go."
"In my brothers case the detectives at the Jojnesboro Police Deprtment have been very active and strongly investigating this and his lead detective is not going to give up," said Loggains. "I know we will eventually get some answers."
Anyone with information on the case can call Jonesboro police at 870-935-5657 or Jonesboro CrimeStoppers at 870-935-STOP.
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