Human remains have been found in western Haralson County that are believed to be missing person, Jessica Victoria Earl. A few weeks ago, a property owner on Mt Zion Church Road was out working on his property when he came across what he thought was a T-shirt but when he picked it up, was actually a tattered backpack. Later that evening when he got home, his wife looked through the bag and discovered a wallet with the identification belonging to Jessica Victoria Earl. The property owners contacted the SheriffÂ’s office. The bag and its contents were processed and placed into evidence.
According to the Haralson County SheriffÂ’s Office, several searches were done during that week including searches with local cadaver dogs, searches on foot and then another search on Saturday with dogs that specialize in human remains detection with the K-9 Alpha Search and Rescue Team out of Atlanta. The Alpha Team dogs showed interest in two areas but the growth was so thick in the bottoms area, they were unable to find any remains. The growth was at least knee high and very thick in most places and it was impassable in other areas. A decision was made to search those areas that the dogs showed interest in when some of the brush died out so there would be visibility.
On Thursday October 17, 2019, a family member came out to the property to show the property owners where they had found some animal skulls in the past right off of the property and they came across a human skull in the immediate vicinity of where the dogs had shown interest and contacted the lead investigator. Investigators and deputies from the SheriffÂ’s Office, a GBI crime scene investigator and the Deputy Coroner searched until almost dark and the scene was secured until the search could resume on Friday. The family of Ms. Earl were notified of the possibility that she had been found.
On Friday, October 18, 2019, a GBI crime scene investigator, GBI agents and Haralson county SheriffÂ’s Office investigators combed the area to recover as many of the remains as possible to send to the GBI crime lab. As this is still an active and ongoing investigation, authorities say they will not be releasing any other information at this time.
“Although we cannot say for sure it is Jessica Earl, we strongly believe that it will be her due to the fact the remains were found in a close proximity to her backpack,” states Sheriff Eddie Mixon. “This case has been worked constantly for 16 months by my department, we have followed leads, conducted searches and so much more because we wanted to find her for her family. Even though we have been criticized many times over, my investigators have given their all to this case and I stand by the work that was done. I ask that everyone keep the family in their prayers in the coming days and while the identification process is completed.”
