Family looks for answers in mom's slaying

JONESBORO, Ga.,None — The family of a Clayton County mother of two is looking for answers in her killing. 

Rochelle Alisha Thomas' partially nude body was dumped behind an apartment building in Jonesboro on Wednesday night. Police believe the 30-year-old single mother knew her killer.

"Whoever did this to my child God help you, you've torn up my family and hurt us badly," Thomas' mother, Beverly, said.

Thomas was last seen dropping her two children off at their bus stop Wednesday morning. Her sons said they knew something was wrong when she wasn't there when they got home from school.

"I called her, and she didn't answer. I thought she would call back, but we kept trying and she wouldn't answer," said Shamar Edwards, Thomas' 10-year-old.

Thomas' 15-year-old son said he hoped his mom would return home soon.

"I thought maybe it would just be a half-hour later she would be home," said Alex Thomas, Rochelle Thomas' 15-year-old son.

Beverly Thomas said her daughter worked out of her home as a massage therapist. She indicated that Thomas had a past of living in the fast lane, but had since moved beyond that.

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"Living in the fast lane, drugs and alcohol and stuff like that, were not her life. Her children were her life," Beverly Thomas said. "She had a heart of gold."

She reported her daughter missing, and the body was found a couple of hours later. Investigators are now trying to piece together her last hours and determine exactly where she was killed. Most details are being kept secret, but police said investigators had found Thomas' car along Tara Blvd.

"At this time we are securing the vehicle so it can be process through the GBI's crime lab for any information that it might assist us with," Riverdale Police Chief Samuel Patterson said.

Riverdale and Jonesboro police have been investigating the killing, but the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is taking the lead.

Family members said they are hurt and confused.

"Who takes God's business in their hands and takes someone's life? I'll never be able to understand," Beverly Thomas said.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call police at 770-909-5423.

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WSBTV