Mom missing for two years identified after remains found in rural Georgia, deputies say
A tip led to a woman’s remains in rural Georgia late last year, deputies say.
Now, she’s been identified.
Olivia Samantha Fowler vanished two years ago from Meriwether County, according to the sheriff’s office. The 26-year-old had been reported missing Aug. 14, 2021, after she was last seen at about 10 a.m. the day before.
Through forensic testing, investigators confirmed the remains found in a rural part of the county in December 2022 belong to the missing mom of three, the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office announced Aug. 22.
Authorities are looking into the circumstances of Fowler’s death.
“The case will now be classified from a missing person case to a death investigation,” Sheriff Chuck Smith said in a statement. “There is still much evidence to be analyzed and processed.”
Fowler’s family and friends launched a public search with #BringOliviaHome in hopes that someone might find her, WXIA reported. Relatives said she loved her family and had “the biggest heart.”
At the time, family members believed Fowler was being held against her will after she vanished, according to WSB-TV.
“She’s somewhere she can’t get to us,” Fowler’s mother, Kimberly Fowler, told the station last year. “She’s somewhere she can’t get to a phone.”
Local investigators, as well as agents with the FBI Columbus Resident Agency, met with Fowler’s family Aug. 21 to deliver the upsetting news, the sheriff’s office said. The FBI Crime Lab in Quantico, Virginia, aided investigators in verifying her remains.
Fowler’s relatives have asked for privacy, Smith said.
“The family would like the public to know that Olivia was not only a mother, but a daughter, a sister, a grandchild, and an important member of the Fowler family,” the sheriff said.
“This is a difficult time for them now and going forward.”
Anyone with information on Fowler’s disappearance or death is asked to call the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office at 706-672-6651, or the FBI tip line at 770-216-3000.
Meriwether County is about 60 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta.
This story was originally published August 23, 2023 at 8:58 AM with the headline "Mom missing for two years identified after remains found in rural Georgia, deputies say."