BETHLEHEM, Ga. (AP) — The body of a missing ride-hailing driver has been found under the house of a Georgia man who has been taken into custody, authorities said.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said deputies got a tip about the possible location of Kim Mason, a woman who had been missing from Gwinnett County since Sunday.
Investigators got a search warrant and went to a house near Bethlehem late Monday, news outlets reported.
Smith told WAGA-TV that deputies found a body buried in the crawlspace under the house on Tuesday after noticing that part of the dirt floor had been disturbed.
”(Deputies) began hand-digging, trying to find, and that’s when they found the body,” the sheriff said describing how deputies discovered the shallow grave.
The body was identified as Mason. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is performing an autopsy to determine how she died.
Deputies arrested Adam Heard, who lived at the house, charging him with concealing a death, evidence tampering, possession of a gun by a convicted felon, theft of a motor vehicle and violating the terms of his probation.
Heard was jailed awaiting a court appearance. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer representing him who could comment on his behalf.
Smith said additional charges could be possible depending on what the autopsy finds.
Mason was reported missing by her fiancé after she went to work as a Lyft driver on Sunday and never came back. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the fiancé called Mason’s cellphone around 3 a.m. and she texted back to say she was driving passengers.
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