ATLANTA — The search for a missing Gwinnett County man who disappeared along with his truck on a routine trip to the auto parts store has taken a dark turn.
Leondre Flynt's missing persons case out of Gwinnett County has now been transferred to the Homicide Unit over at the Atlanta Police Department.
On Tuesday, Atlanta Police released an incident report from a search warrant executed at Marquis at Buckhead apartments off Peachtree Road in Buckhead. In the report, it states APD's Homicide Unit was asked to assist Gwinnett County Police on their investigation into the disappearance of the 21-year-old Flynt, of Loganville.
During the search warrant an officer wrote in the report, "...items of evidentiary value were collected." It went on to state, "Based off the circumstances of Leondre's disappearance and the evidence collected, the Homicide Unit believed Leondre had been killed."
On Wednesday, his cousin Shannon Wilson met 11Alive's Cody Alcorn at the apartment complex on Colonial Holmes Drive. He said the family was notified about a week ago. Flynt's case was now being investigated as a homicide. However, Wilson confirmed his cousin and Flynt's maroon GMC Canyon truck were still missing.
"It's real hard, it's hard on the family," Wilson said.
Wilson also revealed some new details on how their family actually led police to the apartment in Buckhead. He said Flynt shared a phone plan with Wilson's sister so she was able to gain access to his phone records.
He said they were able to determine the last phone call made by Flynt was in the Buckhead area. Wilson said the call was to a parking company.
"We basically was canvassing the whole area trying to find this specific parking company," Wilson explained.
He said thanks to technology, they were able to figure out that Flynt placed that call from the Marquis at Buckhead Apartments around noon on July 29 -- the last day his family ever saw or head from him.
Wilson said as they continued to their own investigation, they learned within just a couple hours of Flynt showing up at the apartment complex, shots were heard by several people.
"The information we got from the office was the people in the unit said it was a misfire," Wilson explained.
However, he said he wasn't buying the leasing office's story.
"I don’t know who the hell misfires like five times but that was their explanation for it," Wilson said.
He said with the information they were able to gather they contacted police which led to the search warrant being executed on Aug. 16. It was that day that Atlanta Police officially took over the investigation.
Wilson said police called them within the last week to notify them they believed Flynt had been killed. Wilson said they believed something bad happened the day they filed the missing persons report on July 30.
He said his sister who Flynt lived with had a gut feeling the day she filed the report.
"My sister actually knew the very next day because if he's not coming home, he's going to call," he said.
Wilson said while they want justice for Flynt, right now they just want to find his body so they can bring him home.
"It's real hard, it's hard on the family," he said. "There's really no closure, I mean we can't have a funeral."
Atlanta Police haven't released any information outside the incident report they released to 11Alive that only points to "evidence" collected at the apartment at Marquis at Buckhead and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance led them to believe Flynt had been killed.
While the family believes APD does have some people of interest, no suspects have been named in the case.
As for Flynt's GMC Canyon truck, Wilson said there was some miscommunication about it being found. He said the truck, which is a 2018 maroon pickup with temporary tag number P4689211 was pinged by OnStar in Detroit not long after he vanished. However, Wilson said police didn't actually find it. He said attempts to track it since have been unsuccessful.
Wilson is urging anyone with information on his cousin's whereabouts or what happened to him on July 29, to call police. You can also call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS(8477) or e-mail the anonymous information using the online form at www.crimestoppersatlanta.org.
The tip can result in a reward up to $2,000 to the individual who supplied the information needed to solve the case.