Clayton News Daily

By Jason A. Smith

jsmith@henryherald.com

McDonough police have released the name of a Stockbridge man, whose skeletal remains were found near the Henry County Jail, after he had been missing for more than a year.

The remains were positively identified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as being those of Timothy Lewis White, 28. White disappeared from outside the jail March 28, 2008, according to McDonough Police Chief Preston Dorsey.

"He was reported missing from the Henry County Sheriff's Office," Dorsey said. "He was arrested by the Henry County Police Department for criminal trespassing. He bonded out of jail, and he and his girlfriend had walked out to their vehicle. He told the girlfriend he needed to go back to the jail to pick something up, and that was the last time he was seen."

Dorsey identified White's girlfriend as Kunyuna Bailey. Bailey could not be reached for comment Monday.

White's remains, Dorsey continued, were found June 18, 2009, by employees of a surveying company, who were working behind the Henry County Department of Family and Children Services.

The chief, at the time of the discovery, told the Henry Daily Herald, that bone fragments were found approximately 30 yards back into a wooded area behind the health department, off Henry Parkway, in McDonough.

Monday, Dorsey added that, although the GBI determined, last month, whose bones were found at the site, state and local authorities did not immediately release White's identity. "We still needed to interview one person in this case," said Dorsey. "That interview has been conducted."

Police, according to the chief, have yet to determine how Timothy White died. Dorsey said there has been no indication of foul play in connection with his death.

"Right now, we still have an open case," said Dorsey. "We just ask that if anybody has any information about this case, contact us. We've had several calls in the past, when we first recovered these skeletal remains, but those leads led to nothing. This case is continuing until we can come up with some different leads, and some more information about Mr. White."

GBI Spokesman John Bankhead, in April, confirmed White as the man whose remains were found. He said the reason authorities took nearly a year, after the discovery, to link White to the case, was because a number of tests were required before the body could be positively identified.

Bankhead did not release additional details from the GBI Monday.

-- Staff writer Johnny Jackson contributed to this article.