DNA analysis identifies remains as Georgia woman missing since 1997

ATLANTA (Atlanta News First/Gray News) — Human remains found during a missing person investigation have been confirmed as those of a woman who went missing in Conyers three decades ago, authorities said.

Tammy Fortson vanished in 1997 from the Fox Chase Court area, Conyers police said. The investigation into Fortson’s disappearance grew cold until skeletal remains were found near Christian Circle in 2016, one of the last places Fortson was seen.

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

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,” 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,” officials said in a statement. “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 that could assist in the investigation, no matter how minor it may seem, is asked to contact the Newton County Sheriff’s Office at 470-426-4294.