Georgia Woman’s Death Under Investigation as Homicide; BODY FOUND IN KROGER PARKING LOT
The death of a lost woman in Georgia is being looked into as murder.
This is what a missing person’s sign from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office says: Shekema Toran, 36, was last seen in Augusta, Ga., on July 31.
It was thought that she was going to be in the Atlanta, Georgia, area in a white 2004 Ford F-250 with the Georgia license plate number RJW-1158, which was being driven by Barritz Martin. The police did not say what kind of connection Toran and Martin had.
On August 4, four days later, a body later identified as Toran’s was found about 140 miles west in Decatur, Ga., which is a neighborhood of Atlanta. A public information officer with the DeKalb Police Department confirmed this in a statement sent to PEOPLE on Friday, August 9.
WRDW reports that cops found the dead woman in a parked car in the Kroger grocery store parking lot. When Toran died, the circumstances were not instantly clear.
It was reported by WRDW that Toran’s mother said she got strange text messages from someone who “does not sound like her daughter” after her daughter went missing.
The Homicide Assault Unit of the police force is looking into the case.
The officer said in the statement, “A suspect has been identified and warrants have been obtained, but we are not able to release the names at this time.”
Toran was the mother of three young children, according to a GoFundMe page set up by her friends and family to help pay for her funeral.
“Her family and friends loved her very much, and she made a difference in this community,” the fundraiser says.