Olivia Fowler death investigation: Aunt of mother of 3 says remains found deep in the woods

MERIWETHER COUNTY, Ga. - The day after the FBI positively identified the remains of Olivia Fowler, her aunt, Tamara McCoy, discussed the latest developments.

Her niece's remains were found off this dirt road, deep into the woods of Meriwether County on Dec. 22, 2022.

"Think woods, very thick, it was a dirt road off the main road," McCoy said.

The Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office has not released details on the discovery of the body, and referred the media to two press releases it put out about Fowler’s case. The first was when the remains were found last December. The second from this week about the DNA results that confirmed the remains were of Olivia Fowler.

On August 13, 2022, a DNR ranger reported that he saw her walking on Pebblebrook Road. He knew her, and the sighting was deemed credible. The ranger said she was wearing a tie-dye T-shirt and sandals.

McCoy said three before in September, she and a group of volunteers had searched that same road and woods and alerted authorities to their discovery of a cellphone, drug paraphernalia and a tarp. She said, to her knowledge, none of those things were linked to Fowler, but the searchers found the discovery suspicious.

In the Meriwether County media release from Tuesday, Sheriff Chuck Smith said: "This case will now be classified from a missing person case to a death investigation. There is still much evidence to be analyzed and processed.

Fowler was 26-years-old and the mother of three small children.

For McCoy, who has personally searched hundreds of Meriwether County locations for her niece, this now starts a new chapter in what has become a long tale of heartbreak.