UPDATE: Deputies say Garland Warren found; authorities investigate discovery in Butts County - 41NBC News | WMGT-DT (2024)

The Spalding County Sheriff's Office said Friday night that Garland Warren, who was reported missing earlier this month from Laurens County, has been found.

UPDATE: In a separate Facebook post, Laurens County Sheriff Larry Dean said he was “very sorry” for this outcome. “So many people including family, friends, law enforcement, firemen and many other volunteers put their heart and time into searching for Mr. Garland,” he wrote. “This is not the outcome we were praying for.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

UPDATE: The Laurens County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Friday night that a body found in Butts County “is believed to be” Mr. Garland Warren.

“The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Butts County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), Spalding County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), and Laurens County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) are on scene,” the post stated. “We don’t have any further information at this time. This is still an active on-going investigation. I ask that you all please keep the Warren family in your prayers.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

UPDATE (6/28/24): The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office said Friday night that Garland Warren, who was reported missing earlier this month from Laurens County, has been found.

“Please keep the family of Mr. Garland Warren in your prayers,” the post stated. “He has been found.”

When reached by phone Friday night, Spalding County Coroner Michael Pryor said he had not been notified of the discovery. Butts County Coroner Lacey Prue confirmed by phone that remains had been found in Butts County but told 41NBC she was not able to confirm or deny the remains belonged to Warren. She said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) was on the scene.

The GBI confirmed by email its agents were processing the scene and deferred us to local law enforcement for additional details. We’ve also reached out to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, Butts County Sheriff’s Office and Laurens County Sheriff’s Office.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

ORIGINAL STORY (6/27/24):

SPALDING COUNTY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office says a dog belonging to Garland Warren, who was reported missing earlier this month from Laurens County, was found on Thursday.

According to a Spalding County Sheriff’s Office news release, Butts County Sheriff’s Office investigators were contacted about a dog matching the description of Warren’s dog. The dog, found near Georgia Hwy. 16 at Windy Lane, had been taken in by a “Good Samaritan” who contacted authorities. The dog has been turned over to Laurens County authorities.

Wednesday morning, a large-scale search operation was conducted by approximately 75 searchers from various agencies, including Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, Butts County Sheriff’s Office and Laurens County Sheriff’s Office. The teams searched the area around Wallace Road in Butts County, where Warren’s truck was photographed on June 15, before the truck was discovered by Spalding County deputies at a Dollar General on June 21.

“They searched the entire area including woods, checking creeks, culverts, ditches, trash piles, abandoned houses, drainage pipes, bodies of water, and anywhere else they could go, or Mr. Warren could have gone,” Sheriff Darrell Dix said.

Despite the extensive search, Warren has not been located.

“Everyone out there yesterday morning wanted to find Mr. Warren and help his family,” Dix said.

Further investigation through statewide Flock Safety cameras yielded no new information related to Warren’s truck or any connected vehicles.

Earlier this week, two people, 62-year-old Robert Earnest Peppers and 56-year-old Kelly Gail Osborn, were taken into custody on charges connected to the theft of Warren’s truck. No additional charges have been added as of now.

Deputies say after the truck was found at the Dollar General on June 21, it was transported to Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Region 13 in Perry where it was processed by GBI crime scene investigators.

“According to Butts County Sheriff’s Office, they were contacted by a couple who stated that on June 15, 2024, they were riding 4-wheelers on the abandoned end of Wallace Road in Butts County when they observed a black pickup truck on the edge of Wallace Road with the rear tires in a ditch,” the release stated. “Not knowing if the vehicle was occupied or not, they decided to stop and not approach it. The wife snapped pictures of the truck and forwarded them to the Butts County Sheriff’s Office. The pictures have been confirmed to be the truck Mr. Warren was driving when he disappeared, and in one of the photos, his dog is pictured. These photos place the truck in the location were Peppers said he found it 6 days before the truck was found by Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Deputies at the Dollar General on Jackson Road after a Flock alert.”

Sheriff Dix addressed ongoing frustration from those in the community.

“I know folks are frustrated, so are we and everyone else searching for Mr. Warren,” he said. “Everybody wants answers, and for someone to be held accountable. Right now at this particular moment in time, as much as people want us to, there is not enough evidence to charge Osborn and Peppers with anything other than what they have been charged with. Both waived their rights and have been interviewed by Investigators extensively. We have to go where the evidence and facts lead us, not where our emotions and theories want to take us. In the end there is a big difference between believing somebody was involved, saying you know they were involved, and proving they were involved in front of a jury. When you get in that courtroom you only have one chance to get it right or you lose everything.”

Authorities urge anyone with information, video footage, or leads to contact the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, Butts County Sheriff’s Office, Laurens County Sheriff’s Office or the Spalding County 911 Center at (770) 229-9911.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.