Macon couple looking to buy abandoned home finds dead body

MACON, Ga. (AP) — A couple looking to buy an abandoned house made a grim discovery.

News outlets report that the couple called 911 around noon Wednesday after finding a decomposing body in the house in an industrial district just south of downtown Macon.

The Telegraph newspaper reported that Bibb County Deputy Coroner Lonnie Miley said the man had been dead for at least six days.

Coroner Leon Jones said he was able to identify the man as Arthur Williams because he was wearing a medical alert bracelet with his name on it.

Miley told the newspaper the case is being investigated as a "suspicious death." An autopsy is to be carried out by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab.

Anyone with information is urged to call authorities.

REPRINTED FROM wrdw.com

Man convicted of killing wife, dumping body at abandoned house

The Elizabeth man accused of strangling his wife and leaving her body in an abandoned house four years ago has been convicted by a Union County jury, the Union County Prosecutor's Office announced Monday.

Abayuba Rivas, 43, killed his wife, Karla Jose Villagra-Garzon in March 2014. The couple had a 2-year-old daughter at the time.

Authorities said he stuffed her body in a suitcase and drove her to a vacant, unkempt ranch house in Chatham Township, about 19 miles from Elizabeth. He dumped her body on a mattress in the basement, the prosecutor's office said.

The jury convicted Rivas on charges of aggravated manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child and desecration of human remains, as well as two weapons offenses and three counts of hindering apprehension. He was not found guilty of murder.

Rivas also repeatedly lied to authorities while the crime was under investigation, the prosecutor's office said.

The morning after he left her body at the Chatham house, Rivas reported Villagra-Garzon missing. He told police she went out the night before to buy medicine for their daughter.

This launched a citywide search for Villagra-Garzon, while family and friends urging the public to help find her. Her picture quickly spread around social media.

But nearly three weeks after Rivas reported her missing, Villagra-Garzon's body was recovered from the abandoned house, with duct tape binding her hands and covering her mouth and eyes.

Police said Villagra-Garzon died from asphyxiation, and blunt-force trauma contributed to it.

Rivas, who had repeatedly appeared on camera for media interviews to plead for public assistance in the search, ultimately confessed to killing Villagra-Garzon.

The couple's daugher, Valentina, now lives with Garzon's cousin, Maria Saez.

Relatives, who set up the Facebook page "Let's Find Karla Villagra"while she was missing, said they were relieved the case has finally come to an end.

"We are extremely excited, because Karla will finally be done justice," her family wrote in Spanish over Facebook.

Rivas had his bail revoked following the verdict. He now awaits a sentencing hearing, scheduled for August 24.

REPRINTED FROM nj.com

Missing man found dead in abandoned Jackson house

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) - Hinds County Sheriff officials say they believe they’ve found the body of a Jackson man, whose family reported him missing in late October.  

Law enforcement announced their discovery on Saturday morning in a press release, saying they discovered what is believed to be the body of 64-year-old Richard Cooper.

US Marshalls aided sheriff’s investigators in locating the body in the house on Brown Street in Jackson Friday night. 

Family members reported Cooper missing after he hadn’t been seen for several days, according to police. 

The sheriff’s office says suspects were arrested Friday evening at an abandoned house on Gunda Street in South Jackson. 

Mackenzie Corey Stuckey and Jessica Sierra Winston, 31, of Jackson were “arrested… in connection to this case,” the press release said.

Police say Stuckey is facing charges that include murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and auto theft. 

Winston faces charges of murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and forgery. 

The two are detained at the Hinds County Detention Center as of Saturday, officials say. 

“This is an ongoing investigation and we will update as information is available,” Hinds County Sheriff’s Dept. said.

REPRINTED FROM wjtv.com