Albany police investigate remains found near cemetery, weekend homicide

ALBANY — The presence of human remains at a cemetery isn’t unexpected, but when a skull and other bones are found in the vicinity and they aren’t part of a body buried there, it does raise questions.

That is the scenario facing investigators after a passerby noticed what appeared to be human bones on the periphery of Crown Hill Cemetery on Dawson Road in Albany over the weekend.

“A gentleman was walking around the outskirts of the cemetery (Sunday evening) and he discovered some bones,” Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler said. “He started searching and found other bones into the tree line. Some of the bones were found in a wooded area. They’re human bones. We know they’re skeleton bones.”

At the initial inspection, the coroner did not notice any trauma to the remains that would indicate foul play. It also was not clear whether the remains were from a person who died in the vicinity or were placed there after the body had decomposed.

The remains will be sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to try to determine the individual’s age and sex, and if possible, to provide an identity, the coroner said.

“We don’t know how it got there, why it’s there,” Fowler said. “The (Albany) Police Department’s working on it.”

The coroner said he has already received some inquiries from the families of individuals who have gone missing.

“If someone is missing someone, contact us,” Fowler said. “We’ve already had people calling. We have several missing persons in Albany.”

Albany police also responded to a slaying earlier in the day on Sunday.

Officers who responded at about 1 p.m. found Dexter Elliot Gilbert, 48, dead of a gunshot wound, and arrested Reginald Renaldo Jefferson, who also was at the scene, in the 800 block of Corn Avenue.

Witnesses told police that the two had argued prior to the shooting.

Gilbert was shot in the chest, police said. Jefferson, 53, was charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and was transported to the Dougherty County Jail.

Police request that anyone with additional information call Albany Area Crime Stoppers at (229) 436-TIPS (8477) or a department investigator at (229) 431-2100.

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