Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson announced on Friday that human skeletal remains were found in the yard of a home on Highway 193 in the Cooper Heights community. The homeowner called 911 late Thursday after an animal brought the remains into the yard.
Walker County detectives, deputies, and the Rhea County, TN Sheriff’s Office, along with a Cadaver K9, worked through the night to locate the rest of the human skeleton in a nearby wooded area.
The remains will be sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) crime lab for an autopsy. Initial findings suggest the cause of death was suicide, according to Sheriff Wilson.
The remains are tentatively identified as 23-year-old Timaya Williams of Montgomery, AL, who had been missing since June 2024. In early June, Williams’ abandoned vehicle was found on the right-of-way of Highway 193. The vehicle was towed by the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) after being left for over a week, though it had not been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) by Montgomery authorities.
Sheriff Wilson thanked Rhea County Sheriff Mike Neal and his deputies for their support in the search.
