The investigation into the death of a 26-year-old Grundy County, Tenn., mother continues, with officials saying they have searched the home of her ex-husband.
Samantha Kathleen Chandler was found dead in a remote, wooded area south of Coalmont on May 1.
State and local officials conducted interviews and searched the Pickett Lake Road West home of Daniel Chandler, Samantha Chandler's ex-husband, Sheriff Clint Shrum said this week.
"We have a very strong lead," Shrum said, but he didn't want to elaborate further.
He said authorities have not named a suspect in the case, which is now being investigated as a homicide.
Samantha Chandler's body was found about 150 feet from the roadway in an isolated area south of Gruetli-Laager near where Ross Creek Road becomes Burkett's Chapel Road, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Some ATV riders discovered the body May 1 in an area frequented by people using recreational vehicles.
The heavily wooded terrain in the area is undulating and crisscrossed with off-roading trails and roads.
Shrum said TBI agents conducted the search without direct help from the sheriff's department, so he was unable to talk about what, if anything, was found.
TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland also declined to talk about the search or whether anything was seized as evidence.
Shrum said Samantha Chandler lived at the Pickett Lake Road West home until August. The residence there is a mobile home on a little less than 2 acres, state real estate records show. Samantha Chandler was living with her parents in Gruetli-Laager around the time she was killed, Shrum said.
According to the obituary published on Layne Funeral Home's website, Samantha Chandler is survived by a son, two sisters, her parents, grandparents and other relatives.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the sheriff's office at 931-692-3466 extension 5. Tips can be emailed to atinfo@grundysheriff.com or through Mobile Patrol, a smartphone app available to Grundy County residents that allows users to receive alerts and communicate with the sheriff's office.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.