Police: Body found ‘in reference’ to search of missing 2-year-old Georgia boy

ATLANTA (WANF/Gray News) - After a days-long search, a body has been found in reference to the disappearance of a 2-year-old from DeKalb County, Georgia, WANF reports.

Police said the body was found at the East Point transfer station in the 3100 block of South Martin Street during the investigation and search for J’Asiah Mitchell.

Police have not confirmed that the body is J’Asiah’s, but East Point Police Chief Shawn Buchanan says he does not “think it’s a coincidence.”

J’Asiah originally went missing Aug. 16. At first, officials deemed his case a kidnapping. His father, 23-year-old Artavious North, told authorities the young boy was taken during an armed robbery at Aspen Woods Apartments in Decatur, Georgia.

North was arrested a day later and charged with making false statements and filing a false report. Police said North is considered a person of interest in the case.

During a news conference Wednesday, East Point police said additional charges against North are pending.

“(We are) potentially looking at charges for murder, concealing the death of another...” police said. “We’re happy that it can come to some closure. Of course, it’s unfortunate that this was the closure that we were looking for. Everybody that was working this case was hoping the child was alive.”

On Aug. 17, East Point police took over the investigation, saying J’Asiah was actually last seen at the Elite at Lakeview Apartments where North lives. Officials canvassed several areas, including Griffin Landfill and a body of water near the apartment complex.

Authorities started to drain the lake Aug. 18. Family and friends waited anxiously by the shore, watching the water as it dipped. The draining stopped temporarily due to a hole in the water pump but continued the following day. Police did not say they found the boy’s body in the lake.

Jonathan Wyatt, J’Asaih’s grandfather, said that he is his mother’s only child.

“It’s something you don’t want to feel. Nobody wants to feel the way I feel right now,” he told Atlanta News First on Friday. “I mean, just hug your family while you can, because you never know.”

Buchanan said this has been a “very traumatic case.”

“Most of us have children, so a lot of detectives are emotional right now and the family is very emotional,” Buchanan said.

Copyright 2023 WANF via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.