Family gathers in Stafford to mourn a mother's unexplained death

Deborah Maniace would have turned 48 today, but she wasn't give that chance.

Nearly a year ago, early in the morning on Aug. 8, Maniace somehow plummeted more than 30 feet to her death from a bridge on Clinton Street Road, Stafford, where it crosses the CSX railroad line.

Today, her family gathered on the bridge to grieve, remember and ask the community for help -- somebody saw something or knows something that could help close this case.

"I don't feel it was accidental, and I don't feel it was intentional," said Justina Maniace, Deborah's oldest daughter. "I feel that somebody did something. And we don't know who...or what."

Deborah's son, daughters, grandchild, sister and other family members gathered for about an hour on the bridge, placed flowers at the scene, and wrote messages to her on balloons before releasing them to float skyward.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said officially, investigators don't know if Maniace jumped, fell or was pushed. They only know the cause of death was blunt force trauma from the fall.

Other than that, there isn't much evidence to explain what happened. 

Officials believe that Maniace had been to the Onion Festival in Elba earlier that day and then went to her boyfriend's house in Stafford. She left the house around 2 a.m. after some sort of dispute and began walking home.

She was carrying her shoes in her hand as she walked over the bridge, Brewster said.  It's a detail he hopes might jar a memory of somebody who drove by and maybe saw something, anything.

And investigators know there was vehicle traffic on Clinton Street Road in those early morning hours because surveillance cameras of nearby businesses recorded passing traffic.

Anybody who has any information that may assist the case, no matter how insignificant the information might seem, should call the Sheriff's Office at 343-5000. Tips can be made anonymously.