NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia State Patrol confirmed a body was located Monday afternoon inside of a car as authorities searched for a missing Covington mother.
Several law enforcement vehicles lined up around 2:20 p.m. near the woods off Interstate 20 as they found a vehicle with "similarities" to the car that belongs to Yolanda Brown, according to authorities.
The Covington mother has been missing for more than a week.
"The vehicle has some similarities to Yolanda's vehicle," said Sgt. Jack Redlinger, of the Newton County Sheriff's Office. "So, we're currently in the investigative stages now to see if that is the same vehicle."
Deputies located the car from a ping from cell towers.
"We started a couple of days ago working eastbound and then working westbound and we located the vehicle today," he said.
GSP didn't say if the body was Brown, but said the driver was found dead.
Georgia Department of Transportation shut down one westbound lane ahead of rush hour as authorities investigated near exit 92, not far from Brown's residence. Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents went to the scene; the car will be taken to their headquarters.
Investigation underway along I-20 in connection with Covington mother's disappearance
Brown had been seen leaving the parking lot at the Irish Bred Pub along Virginia Avenue in Hapeville in the early morning hours of Saturday, Sept. 3.
Hapeville Police said their agency was contacted on Sept. 3 regarding Brown's disappearance. However, police said through witness statements and surveillance video they were able to determine Brown left Hapeville on her own accord.
Joshua Doughty, who lives with his mom, said she never made it back to their home in Covington which is about a 40-minute drive.
"She never came home, never," Doughty said last week.
The son added his mom's phone pinged in the Covington area of Newton County at one point. Hapeville Police additionally said they had found "facts that placed her in her home county of Newton County."
Brown's family had believed she met someone at the pub and that something bad had happened to her.
“She doesn’t meet strangers. She always wants to be someone’s friend," Brown's sister, Mickie Nutall, said last week. "And, I’m 100 percent convinced that her friend-making is what led to her being missing right now.”
Monday's active scene is along the westbound side of the interstate. If she was coming from Hapeville back to her home, she would have been traveling eastbound.
Her case is still an active, ongoing investigation.
This is a developing story. Check back often for new information.
Also download the 11Alive News app and sign up to receive alerts for the latest on this story and other breaking news in Atlanta and north Georgia.
