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Body of Jacksonville-based Navy sailor found in Georgia river. GBI asks for community’s help in investigation

Family reported Devin Jeter missing a week ago after he rented a Jeep at the Atlanta airport and never made it home

Devin Jeter (Georgia Bureau of Investigation)

LUMBER CITY, Ga. – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is asking for help from the community after the body of a 25-year-old Navy sailor, who was stationed in Jacksonville, was found in a Georgia river.

The GBI said a fisherman found Devin Jeter, of Scottsdale, Georgia, dead at a boat landing along the Ocmulgee River near Lumber City on Monday. Lumber City is about an hour north of Waycross in Telfair County.

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The medical examiner determined there were no apparent injuries to Jeter’s body, but investigators are still waiting on more forensic tests to learn his cause of death.

Jeter’s family reported him missing on Nov. 8 to the Atlanta Police Department after he did not return to work. His last known location was at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport on the night of Nov. 7.

He rented a 2024 silver Jeep Compass at the airport with a Florida license plate of EWAG47. The GBI said he was headed to Jacksonville in the rented vehicle.

When Jeter didn’t show up for work on Nov. 8, his co-workers alerted his family, prompting the missing persons report.

The rented Jeep has not been located.

The GBI urges anyone who may have seen Jeter or the silver Jeep Compass between Atlanta and Lumber City to come forward. Any information, no matter how small, could be vital in solving this case, investigators said.

Contact the GBI regional investigative office in Eastman at 478-374-6988, or share tips anonymously via the GBI’s tip line at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at GBI’s tip submission page, or through the “See Something, Send Something” mobile app.


About the Authors
Kendra Mazeke headshot

Proud alumnus of Bethune-Cookman University.

Chris Will headshot

Chris Will has joined the News4JAX team as a weekend morning reporter, after graduating from the University of Florida in spring 2024. During his time in Gainesville, he covered a wide range of stories across the Sunshine State. His coverage of Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida earned a National Edward R. Murrow Award.

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