Arrest Made in Connection With Remains Found in Banks County in 2017
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has made an arrest in connection with the remains of a woman found in Banks County two years ago.
According to GBI spokesperson Nelly Miles, the remains found in Banks Crossing in February 2017 have been identified as that of 29-year old Shada Tameka Esther who has been missing from Moultrie, Georgia for three years.
On August 25, 2016, the Moultrie Police Department requested the GBI to assist with a missing persons investigation after Esther was reported missing by family when she did not pick up her three children at the school bus stop two days earlier.
The investigation determined that she was last with her live-in boyfriend, Michael Heads.
Then in February 2017, the GBI Athens office was requested by the Banks County Sheriff’s Office to process a scene where human remains were found in a wooded area off Highway 59 near New Salem United Methodist Church in Commerce.
In 2018, the GBI released a sketch of what the victim may have looked like. This month, she was identified as a missing Moultrie, GA woman
According to Banks Co Sheriff spokesperson Sgt. Carrissa McFaddin an interested real estate buyer was exploring the property when the skeletal remains were discovered.
A year later in July, 2018 photos of some of the items found with the victim were released to the public along with a forensic drawing of what the victim may have looked like, in hopes of making an identification.
Found among the remains, were a metal ring and a butterfly necklace charm. Blue, purple, and gray in color fabrics were also collected from the scene.
After reviewing a GISAC intelligence bulletin about the found remains, the assigned GBI case agent in Thomasville, Georgia contacted agents with the GBI Athens office to learn more about evidence collected at the scene in 2017 and specifics of the remains.
That eventually led to the identification of Esther.
Earlier this month, the remains were also confirmed by DNA analysis to be those of Shada Esther.
Miles said on Thursday, the GBI announced it had arrested 49-year old Michael Heads, for the murder of Esther, which occurred on August 23, 2016.
Agents said after the murder, Heads left Moultrie and drove to Atlanta and a year later moved to Slidell, Louisiana.
With the help of law enforcement in Slidell, Heads was located and arrested Thursday. Heads was also charged with two counts of felony financial transaction card fraud.
The extradition process will begin in Louisiana to return Heads to Georgia to face criminal charges.