The body of an Indian American young man, Neil Patel, has been identified in South Macon, Georgia, and it will be treated as a homicide. Patel had been missing since Dec. 19 and the body was found two days later, but the police had not been able to identify it.
The body of the 21-year-old was found behind a recreation center at Bloomfield Park in Bibb County with multiple gunshot wounds, according to 41 NBC. Authorities at the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the death as a homicide, the 30th one in Bibb County in 2017.
Authorities had interviewed families of those who looked similar and were reported missing. Patel’s family was in New Jersey.
Patel was wearing black shorts, a blue shirt and black Converse sneakers and had hair dyed red when the body was found.
His neighbors said they heard gunshots a few nights before his body was found, according to the Telegraph.
“Everybody loves him here. I miss him a lot he was my roommate. He was the only person I could talk to about anything,” Patel’s former roommate Ashwani Gill said. Gill said that he met Patel on Dec. 18 before leaving for work.
Patel was scheduled to go to New Jersey on Dec. 19 for the holidays. However, when Gill returned Patel was not at the house. Gill thought something was wrong when he saw that Patel’s wallet and ID were at the apartment but Xbox One and TV were missing.
“All the doors inside were open, lights were on. He wasn’t there so first I thought maybe he left because he was about to leave for Christmas to New Jersey,” he told 41 NBC.
His body was found two days after Patel’s friends and family filed a missing report. Patel’s friends Deion Lowe and Gill said that it was possible that Patel got mixed with the wrong crowd.
There has been an increase in homicide cases in Bibb County. Patel’s death was the 30th one in 2017, up from 20 in 2016.
“If we ever need prayer, we need it now,” Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said while talking to the media. “This is 30. And this is Macon, you know. This ain’t Cobb County, Fulton County, DeKalb.” He added: “God help us.”