Gwinnett County

Police find body of teacher accused of inappropriate relationship with student

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Gwinnett County police confirmed late Wednesday evening that they had found the body of a missing DeKalb County teacher accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

Zachary Meadors, 28, was last seen on Saturday. Family members filed a missing person report on Monday in Gwinnett County.

Meadors was a sixth-grade English teacher at Freedom Middle School in Stone Mountain. He had been with the school for two years.

He was supposed to meet with district officials on Monday about the accusations, but he never showed up.

Investigators said they found Meadors body slumped over in a vehicle along Scenic Highway in Lawrenceville shortly after 5:15 p.m.

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Police said it appeared Meadors died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Gwinnett police confirmed Wednesday evening that they had issued arrest warrants for Meadors.

Meadors was wanted on charges of child molestation, computer pornography and child exploitation, according to an incident report.

Before he disappeared, surveillance cameras recorded Meadors as he dropped off three letters and an iPad on the doorstep of his parents’ Lawrenceville home.

According to the missing person report, Meadors used the letters to issue apologies to an unknown person and his family.

“In this letter, Zachary was apologizing for all the chaos he caused,” a detective wrote in the report.

“The second letter was written out to his family. (In) this letter, Zachary expressed how much he loved his family and he apologized for the image they may have of him now.”

The third letter addressed his finances. He asked for them to be split four ways among his parents, sister and two unknown people.

The school district had put Meadors on leave without pay. It sent a letter to parents on Tuesday to let them know about the investigation and situation.

Channel 2's Michael Seiden who first broke this story yesterday, learned from investigators that three days after Meadors was placed on leave, a student came forward and asked to speak with a school counselor.

According to the incident report, the victim was a 12-year-old boy.