Landfill body ID’d as West Virginia woman
♦ Bartow officials say the death of the 20-year-old remains under investigation.
A dismembered body found in the Bartow County landfill last month was officially identified Wednesday as that of a missing West Virginia woman.
Bartow County Sheriff Clark Millsap said the victim was positively identified by the GBI medical examiner’s office as Courtney Nicole Dubois. The 20-year-old woman was reported missing by the Fairmont Police Department in West Virginia.
“This is an important step in the investigative process and allows law enforcement to focus specifically on Courtney Dubois from this point going forward,” Millsap said.
The medical examiner’s office used dental records obtained through law enforcement channels from her family to confirm her identity. Millsap said more information would be released as new developments occur.
Dubois’ body, which was cut into an undisclosed number of pieces, was discovered Aug. 13 at the landfill on Allatoona Dam Road near Emerson. A sanitation worker found a body part while dumping a container from a remote collection site.
Sheriff’s deputies and GBI investigators turned up more pieces, which had been wrapped in separate bags, and traced them to the collection site on Cedar Creek Road in Cartersville. The container brought to the landfill had been sealed Aug. 11.
Dubois had several distinctive tattoos, and investigators released pictures of them — along with a composite sketch by an artist — in an attempt to identify her. A woman who said she is Dubois’ mother posted on Facebook that her missing daughter had tattoos matching the pictures and online chatter ensued.
Bartow officials released Dubois’ name Tuesday but retracted the identification saying they were awaiting confirmation from the GBI.