GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Warrants obtained by Channel 2 Action News could point to a possible connection between a police officer and a 16-year-old whose remains were found months after her disappearance.
Susana Morales disappeared on the night of July 26, 2022, after she texted her mother that she was on the way home. Morales’ remains were found on Feb. 6 off Highway 316 near the Barrow County line.
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On Monday, police arrested and charged Miles Bryant, who worked for the Doraville Police Department until his arrest, with concealing the death of another and a false report of a crime.
Morales’ sister told Channel 2 Action News the family got the call about the arrest shortly after her sister’s funeral on Monday.
Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach obtained Bryant’s arrest warrants, which show the 22-year-old lived at an apartment complex off Windscape Village Lane.
That is the same area where police believe Morales was last seen.
Police say that Morales’ phone location last showed her on Singleton Lane near Windscape Village between 10:07 p.m. and 10:21 p.m. on July 26. Her house was only half a mile from this location.
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Police believe that Morales’ body was dumped in the woods off Highway 316 and Drowning Creek Road, 20 miles from where she disappearance.
The warrant application also reveals insight into what investigators believe happened. It claims the officer “lives in close proximity to victim and dumped her naked body in the woods.”
The warrant claims: “Accused did conceal the death of Susana Morales and hindering the discovery of whether or not such person was unlawfully killed.”
Warrants also show that the day after Morales’ disappearance, Bryant filed a police report claiming his gun was stolen after his car was broken into at the apartment complex. Police charged Bryant with a false report of a crime.
Bryant had no prior relationship with the 16-year-old, according to warrants.
Police say they are still working to determine Morales’ exact cause of death.
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