Remains found by Tucker lawn crew 4 years ago identified as missing 18-year-old

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A man whose remains were found in Tucker nearly four years ago has been identified using DNA technology.

In October 2020, a lawn maintenance company found the remains of a man behind a business parking lot. Deputies transported the remains to the District Attorney’s Office and determined they belonged to a black man who was 5′10″ and 113 pounds. He was wearing a clear stud earring.

A sketch artist created an image of the man and the case details were added to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons system, but the man’s identity remained a mystery.

In 2024, DeKalb teamed up with Othram and extracted DNA from the evidence. The investigation led to the positive identification of the man, 18-year-old Josiah Campbell, of Snellville.

Deputies said that on Sept. 25, 2020, Campbell left his home to go to a recording studio and never returned.

Campbell, who would be 22 years old today, was the 18th Georgia case in which a person was positively identified by Othram’s technology.