Cadaver dogs return to search wooded area of Greene County

Published 2:30 pm Monday, November 23, 2020

GREENSBORO, Ga. — Five cadaver dogs returned to the scene Monday where human skeletal remains recently were found in a wooded area of Greene County.

The ongoing investigation by law enforcement agencies, including the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, has already led to the arrest of a suspect who is being held on murder charges.

Local and state law enforcement authorities have reason to believe that the remains are those of a missing 17-year-old from DeKalb County, although they still have not confirmed such at this time.

Anthony “A.J.” Haszelton was seen alive by his mother, Benji Abbey, on April 19. The mother and her son shared breakfast that morning.

The human remains were found by a man who owns property off Ga. Route 15 South.

Greene County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said the remains were found in a shallow grave deep in the woods on the man’s property.

Investigators with the sheriff’s office, along with special agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Region 6 Office in Milledgeville have been working together on the case.

Two other law enforcement agencies, the DeKalb County Police Department and the FBI, are also involved in the investigation.

The investigation already has led to the arrest of 19-year-old Charli Ray Ramos.

Ramos recently was taken into custody and charged with felony murder, malice murder and concealing the death of another, according to authorities.

The suspect is being held in the Greene County Law Enforcement Center in Greensboro.

Brian Hargrove, special assistant agent in-charge of the GBI office in Milledgeville, said five cadaver dogs were brought to the wooded area on Monday to search two large tracts in the area.

“It’s a pretty large area,” Hargrove said in a telephone interview from the scene.

He said the search was conducted to see if there was any additional evidence in the area.

“We may and we may not find anything out here,” Hargrove said. “We’re just being as thorough as we can be in this case.”

Hargrove said GBI agents were covering all bases in the case and doing everything they can do to find additional evidence in the area, if any exists.

GBI agents have used cadaver dogs to search for human remains in other cases.

“A lot of times we use them whether we think we’re going to find anything or not, just to be thorough and to make sure we get what we can get in the way of evidence,” Hargrove said.

The cadaver dogs being used in the wooded search in Greene County are with the Central Georgia Search and Rescue from Social Circle.

The search started shortly after 10 a.m. and still was ongoing Monday afternoon.