COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A 21-year-old man was found dead far away from his home after he vanished.
Family and friends searched for Kenny Jackson across multiple counties.
Family and friends told Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell they aren’t ready to talk. Instead of celebrating the Christmas season, they are left grieving.
Investigators haven’t released Jackson’s cause of death. Newell asked them if they suspect foul play, but they only would say it is an active investigation.
Jackson’s disappearance and death are part of a timeline that began with clues but ended with so many questions. He was last seen alive Nov. 19 at a skate park in Dunwoody.
Nearly two weeks later, someone discovered a body much further away, in Oglethorpe County.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigators spent a little more than three weeks trying to make a positive identification. They announced Tuesday that they had determined it was Jackson.
The GBI has not released his cause of death.
Wendy Jackson, his mother, previously spoke with Channel 2 after her son vanished, saying she felt anger and sadness with not knowing what happened.
“I think that he was possibly meeting someone and something went left. I say that but there’s other things that run through my head, and I don’t know. I don’t know,” she said.
Flock cameras flagged his car in Oconee County several hours after he was last seen. The family doesn’t know why his car was so far away or if he was alone.
Cellphone towers pinged his phone in the same area. Friends and family raised over $17,000, hired a private investigator and conducted numerous searches before Jackson’s body was found.
“His room did not indicate that he did not plan to return,” his mother said.
A family friend said anyone who knows anything about what happened should contact the GBI.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]