Prior to his disappearance, Toliver lived with Ernie Lee Luhellier. Eventually Luhellier moved out of the house he shared with Toliver and into one of the houses they owned across the street. He quitclaimed his interest in the old house to Toliver, who sold it to Edward J. McGimsey for $45,000. Toliver moved in with McGimsey in Clinton, Tennessee in late 1999. Toliver's parents went to Clinton to check on him on February 6, 2000, after Luhellier told them their son had been in a violent argument with McGimsey that left holes in the wall and bloodstains. When they arrived at McGimsey's residence, Toliver's parents found no holes in the wall, no bloodstains and no other signs of a fight. There was no indication of Toliver's whereabouts, however, and he left all his clothes and belongings behind except for his dog. McGimsey said Toliver had left on February 4 to see friends in Atlanta, Georgia. He said he'd dropped Toliver off at the first rest area on Interstate 75 at the Tennessee/Georgia border and his Atlanta friends were supposed to pick him up there.