Mom found dead in truck outside Kroger 140 miles from where she vanished, GA cops say
The search for an Augusta woman who vanished after arguing with her boyfriend ended outside a Kroger grocery store 140 miles away, Georgia authorities said.
Shekema Toran, 36, was last seen July 31 near T.J. Kelly Road in Augusta, according to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
Days later on Aug. 4, officers were called about a “suspicious” pickup truck parked outside a Kroger store in Decatur, WANF reported, citing the DeKalb County Police Department. They found a woman’s body inside.
Authorities later identified the body as Toran’s. DeKalb police said its Homicide Assault Unit is investigating the circumstances that led to her death.
“Shekema was deeply loved by her family and friends and made an impact on this community as we desperately searched for answers,” according to a GoFundMe page launched on the family’s behalf. “Please keep her family in your prayers.”
The mom of three went missing after leaving her mother’s house on July 31, according to a Richmond County Sheriff’s Office report obtained by McClatchy News.
Toran and her boyfriend got in an argument and the man was asked to leave, investigators said. He returned two hours later to pick her up.
Toran’s mother told deputies that was the last time she saw her daughter, but mentioned receiving odd text messages from her phone that “do not sound like” Shekema.
She tried calling her daughter’s boyfriend of two months but got no answer, according to the report. Deputies also called him multiple times and, when he finally answered, asked to speak with Toran.
“(Her boyfriend) could be heard saying, ‘Wake up,’ and smacking the dash or seat,” investigators wrote. “This repeated for approximately 10 minutes before (he) disconnected the call and did not answer on callback.”
In a missing person alert, deputies said Toran was possibly headed to the Atlanta area in a white Ford F-250 pickup truck driven by her boyfriend.
No arrests have been made as of Aug. 8, and police said the investigation is ongoing.
“A suspect has been identified and warrants have been secured but we are not able to release the names at this time,” a DeKalb police spokesperson told McClatchy News.
Decatur is about a 10-mile drive northeast from downtown Atlanta.
This story was originally published August 9, 2024 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Mom found dead in truck outside Kroger 140 miles from where she vanished, GA cops say."