Body found in Grundy identified as Ringgold man reported missing in 2018

Staff Photo/ The Grundy County Courthouse in Altamont is seen this 2020 photo.
Staff Photo/ The Grundy County Courthouse in Altamont is seen this 2020 photo.

Human remains found in a field off U.S. Highway 41 in Pelham, Tennessee, have been identified as those of a Ringgold, Georgia, man who went missing in 2018.

The remains were identified as those of Jeremy O'Bannon, 42, whose vehicle was found April 12, 2018, in West Grundy County, according to a news release from the Grundy County Sheriff's Office.

The remains were found Thursday, and Grundy County Medical Examiner Don Hutcheson and Sheriff's Office detectives began an on-scene investigation, according to the release. A cadaver dog was requested to assist from the Murfreesboro Police Department in neighboring Rutherford County.

(READ MORE: Two charged in Grundy County with second-degree murder in separate 2021 drug-related deaths)

The remains consisted of bones, Sheriff Heath Gunter said in a separate social media post Sunday.

"The on-scene investigator spoke with a forensic anthropologist who confirmed via photo documentation the remains discovered were human," Gunter said.

(READ MORE: Grundy County man gets 150-year sentence in child rape case)

Officials will send the remains to the medical examiner in Nashville for further analysis, he said. A positive identification of the remains as O'Bannon's was reported back to the sheriff Saturday.

The investigation is ongoing.

Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.

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