GBI Crime Lab now using DNA to identify body found in Lavonia

In  a new update on the body found earlier this month in Lavonia, WNEG’s sister station, WLHR in Lavonia, reported yesterday that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Lab is conducting an autopsy on the body.

According to Franklin County Coroner Scott O’Barr, it could take up to 90 days or more for DNA results to come back before a positive ID will be released. 

On Monday, September 4, the body of a male was found off Robin Lane in Lavonia by a local resident who was in the area checking on his wildlife cameras.

Relatives of 36-year-old Cordell Barnes of Cleveland believe the remains may be that of their loved one.

Barnes went  missing July 19 and his gold Ford F-150 Crew Cab was located in Hart County on July 29 parked on the side of Highway 59 near Providence Church Road.

Barnes’ family provided O’Barr with Cordell’s dental records, which O’Barr submitted to the GBI Crime Lab in the hopes that positive identification could be made, but O’Barr told WLHR that, since there were no x-rays included with the records, the Crime Lab is now using DNA to determine the man’s identity.

On a special Facebook page set up to find Cordell, his mother, Debbie Barnes stated in a post dated September 5 that she had received a call from Lavonia Police Chief Shane Edmisten and O’Barr that the remains had clothes similar to what her son was wearing when he disappeared.

WNEG News will continue to follow this story and bring any new information as it becomes available.