The badly burned body of a young man was found Saturday in Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park, authorities said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting local authorities with their probe into the discovery, according to spokesperson Nelly Miles. John Bankhead, spokesperson for the Stone Mountain Department of Public Safety, stated that an autopsy was planned for Monday by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office.
A hiker stumbled upon the body and informed authorities around 8:18 a.m. on Saturday, Bankhead mentioned over the phone. He identified the location as being on the side of the mountain far from the walking trail, roughly 100 yards or more from a tower that belongs to the Summit Skyride, a Swiss cable car route to the top.
Bankhead said the location is not remote but is rarely hiked. “I hike here all the time and I didn’t know that was there,” he said.
The spokesperson shared with NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta: “It’s quite unusual, strange; no one I’ve spoken to who has worked here for years has encountered anything like this at the park.”
He said Saturday night that authorities have a prospective identity for the man but have not verified it. Personal belongings, including a vehicle parked in the area, led investigators to the possible name, he said.
Authorities told WXIA that the fire associated with the body was also a focus for DeKalb County Fire Rescue Department arson investigators.
The park includes attractions like a lakeside resort and is run by a state authority and an amusement park management contractor.
It has drawn demonstrations and split opinions over what the park describes as the “largest high relief sculpture in the world” — a depiction of Confederate figures Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. The first part of the sculpture was completed in 1924 and the last in 1972.
The mountain is about 20 miles east of Atlanta.
