ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Human remains found during a missing person investigation have been confirmed to be that of a woman who went missing in Conyers three decades ago, police announced Monday.

Tammy Fortson vanished in 1997 from the Fox Chase Court area, Conyers police said. In 2016, skeletal remains were found near Christian Circle, one of the last places Fortson was seen.

The investigation into Fortson's disappearance grew cold.

In 2019, portions of the remains were sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for advanced DNA analysis, police said. One detective after another tried to crack the case, but a positive ID of the remains proved elusive.

Tammy Fortson (Conyers Police Department)

In 2024, another detective delved into the case, again enlisting the help of the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for forensic testing.

Months of DNA analysis revealed that the remains  were approximately 104 million times more likely to be the biological child of Ms. Beckhold than an unrelated individual,  the Conyers police said in a statement.

With help from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the medical examiner, authorities this past July were able to positively identify the remains as those of Tammy Fortson.

 This identification represents a significant milestone in a case that has remained unresolved for many years,  Conyers police said.  While it cannot erase the pain experienced by Tammy's family, we hope it provides them with some measure of answers and allows the investigation to move forward. 

Now that authorities have identified Fortson's body, the circumstances around her death remain under investigation, police said.

Anyone with information, no matter how minor it may seem, is encouraged to contact the Newton County Sheriff's Office at (470) 426-4294.
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