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8-year-old boy found dead behind NW Georgia home

8-year-old boy found dead behind NW Georgia home

WALKER COUNTY, Ga. — Police are investigating after the body of an 8-year-old boy was discovered Thursday night behind his grandmother’s northwest Georgia home.

Walker County dispatchers received a 911 call about 8 p.m. after the boy’s body was discovered in some woods about 50 yards from the home in the 100 block of Old Grand Center Road in Chickamauga, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

The scene is more than 115 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.

On Friday, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson told the newspaper the child went home from school early Thursday morning after falling ill.

His body was discovered about 10 hours later by his grandmother and his mother’s boyfriend, authorities said. Deputies and GBI agents remained at the scene until early Friday morning and returned to the home once the sun came up.

Wilson told the paper he doesn’t suspect foul play, but that he hasn’t ruled it out either. The child’s body will be taken to the GBI Crime Lab in DeKalb County, where authorities will work to determine a cause of death.

The boy has not been identified, but Wilson told media outlets he would release the name later today after speaking with the child’s mother.