GBI seeking public’s help on 33-year-old homicide investigation

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is asking for the public’s help in a 33-year-old homicide investigation.

According to a release from the GBI, a fisherman discovered the remains of a human body in northern Jones County in 1984. The victim was wearing a pair of Tweedo brand, Safari-style, khaki trousers, with a size 32-inch waist and a canvas or webbed belt with a swordfish design.

Authorities said the victim was a white male believed to be between the ages of 25 and 35.

An autopsy revealed the cause of death as a single gunshot wound to the head. The death was ruled as a homicide.

Officials collected DNA from the body on Oct. 23, 2006 during a disinterment and ran it for a possible matching of missing persons in the National DNA Index System.

The GBI was contacted on Nov. 11, 2016, and told the DNA from the body was consistent with DNA from Dianna Maholland. It was determined she was the mother of the victim, William Maholland.

The Ft. Lauderdale Police Department had placed Diane’s DNA into the system. The Fort Lauderdale Missing Persons Unit was then contacted, and investigators were told a missing persons case had been open on William since around the time his body was first found in Georgia in 1984.

The GBI, Jones County Sheriff’s Office and Ft. Lauderdale Police Department are all still actively investigating the homicide.

Anyone with information on William’s death is urged to contact the GBI at (478) 445-4173, or the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department at (954) 828-5534.

This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 9:31 AM with the headline "GBI seeking public’s help on 33-year-old homicide investigation."