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AUGUSTA, Ga. () – The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man linked to an ongoing investigation after a body was found buried in a shallow grave beneath the eastbound overpass bridge at the intersection of 15th Street and River Watch Parkway on May 20, 2025.
Gerald Curtis James, 60, was arrested Friday, July 25 and charged with Concealing Death, a felony.
The body was identified as 59-year-old Cindy Reese, discovered following a tip received by the Sheriff’s Office’s Homeless Outreach Team.
This is the second arrest in this case.
Mitchell Perry Pelham, 58, was previously arrested June 11 on the same charge of Felony Concealing Death in connection to this case.
Cindy Reese, recorded as homeless by the Richmond County Coroner’s Office, is the deceased in this case. Both individuals suspected in this matter, Gerald James and Mitchell Pelham, are also registered as homeless.
In the warrants for both men, investigators claim that the two co-defendants concealed the body of Reese in order to “hinder discovery of whether or not such person was unlawfully killed.”
According to Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen, Reese’s body is still being autopsied at the GBI Crime lab in Atlanta.
Pelham was originally held at Charles B. Webster Detention Center on the new charges, as well as for probation/parole violation – he was facing a $5,700 bond for the Concealing Death charge. Pelham is not currently listed as an inmate at the detention center.
