Missing woman’s remains found in Tennessee woods, Georgia cops say. Now, 3 people charged
Three people have been charged months after the remains of a missing Georgia woman were found in rural Tennessee, police told news outlets.
Maury-Ange Martinez, 20, of Alpharetta vanished after leaving the Gwinnett County Jail in August 2023, WXIA reported, citing officials. Further investigation revealed she was actually last seen in Cobb County before she disappeared.
Skeletal remains found more than 100 miles away near Chattanooga, Tennessee, in January were identified as Martinez’s, according to WSB-TV.
On July 4, Cobb County police confirmed Jasmine Craig, Sean Deschauzer and Allen Kerr were charged with concealing Martinez’s death, the station reported.
Kerr and Deschauzer were in jail on unrelated charges, a Cobb County police spokesperson told McClatchy News in an email.
Investigators said Craig was arrested in Kansas and is expected to be extradited to Georgia, according to WXIA.
The circumstances surrounding Martinez’s death remain a mystery, however. Her mother, Anita Darling, recalled the last time she saw her daughter.
“It was Aug. 17,” Darling told WXIA. “We went out for sushi, and then we went to watch the “Barbie” movie. We just hung out that day. We just spent the day relaxing and catching up.”
In an interview with WSB-TV, Darling said she hopes the police investigation will bring her family closure.
“I’m so thankful for everything that they have done up to this point,” she told the station. “I’m confident in the investigators that are on the case. They’ve been amazing. I feel like they’ve worked very diligently.”
Cobb County is about a 20-mile drive northwest from downtown Atlanta.