On Thursday, January 16, 2020, Chatsville, Georgia native Caleb Nathaniel Smith told his grandma that he was going to the nearby city of Rome to hang out with friends for a few hours. He told her to leave the deadbolt unlocked because he was planning on returning home that night.
Caleb stopped to get gas at the Flying J gas station/Denny’s restaurant near State Route 136 and I-75 in Resaca, Georgia (about 28 miles from Rome). He entered the gas station at 12:32 AM per gas station camera.
The gas station camera shows one male customer sitting alone at a table in the Denny’s section of the gas station; Caleb sits down at a different table facing the man.
A few minutes later, he calls his granny to let her know where he was, and that he didn’t have enough gas to get to Rome. He let her know that he was going to ask the man at Flying J for $5 for gas.
Caleb goes over and talks to the man on two separate occasions. It’s not known whether he gave Caleb money for gas or not. After the second interaction, Caleb goes and sits back down alone at the table facing the man.
He then gets up and leaves the gas station, never to be seen alive again.
Caleb’s grandma started getting very worried when he didn’t return home by morning, so she took it upon herself to drive over to the Flying J. His car was parked in the Flying J parking lot on the Denny’s side in the back of the building, out of sight of any cameras. Caleb’s grandma saw a suspicious white Nissan that freaked her out, so she decided to stay in her car. She called two family members to come be with her. When the family members arrived, the white car drove off. It is unknown if this car has anything to do with what happened to Caleb.
Caleb’s car was unlocked. His keys were on the floorboard. His cell phone was located in the glove box, and the battery was removed (also in the glove box). His car had half a tank of gas and was not on empty as he as told his grandma. His jacket was also left behind in the car, which was strange because it was a very cold night. His family then reported him missing.
Gordon County Sheriff’s Office officials say on January 16th and 17th, deputies searched the area around the truck stop, both on the ground and in the air, but their search yielded no results. It is also worth noting that the GCSO did not process Caleb’s car for evidence.
On February 3rd, his naked body was found 5 miles away from the gas station in a marshy, overgrown area of the county between the Sugar Valley and Hill City communities. According to the sheriff’s office, a citizen had found him in a poorly drained, heavily overgrown area. Earlier in the day, the fire department had been dispatched to the same general area in reference to a brushfire. It is unknown if the fire is related, and I can’t find any news articles saying that the fire in any way affected Caleb’s remains.
The initial report said that “no immediate indications of violence were apparent”, and the GBI autopsy revealed no indications of violence or evidence of foul play. The toxicology results showed he had died as a result of meth intoxication, and the death was ruled accidental. He also had Benadryl in his system. I investigated but can’t find any information regarding Caleb being a known drug user.
There were many shoe prints near where Caleb’s body was found, yet Caleb was found without shoes or socks on. He had no mud on the bottoms of his feet despite being found in a very muddy, marshy area. The only reasonable explanation I can come up with is that someone carried his body to the location it was found. His family wasn’t allowed to identify him – I’m assuming because of the state of his remains after being outside for days in a marshy area. Also, his clothes were nowhere to be found – they were never recovered, nor were his shoes. It is extremely unlikely he walked 5 miles, naked, unnoticed.
At the very least, someone is guilty of tampering with a dead body.At most, someone is guilty of murder.
Just two days after Caleb went missing, 20 year old Keeslyn Noel Roberts also disappeared from the same gas station. It is not known if these incidents are connected. Keeslyn has yet to be found, and there is a $6,000 reward for any information that leads to her safe return to her family.
When Keeslyn was last seen, she had entered an employee only entrance at the Denny’s part of the gas station. She was told by an employee that she wasn’t allowed to be back there and Keeslyn entered into an altercation with the employee. She dropped her backpack that held her ID, debit card, cash and phone charger as she fled the scene. A press release from the Gordon Co Sheriff’s Office confirms they were called to the truck stop that day about a suspicious female. Keeslyn’s white Toyota Corolla with belongings inside was found at the truck stop by her family on January 20. Some of her clothes were found near the trash dumpster at Flying J shortly after she went missing.
It’s worth mentioning that there is an active probation violation warrant out of Whitfield County for Keesyln – her initial arrest was due to drug charges. Her father, Eric Roberts, said Keeslyn does meth which is the same substance detailed in Caleb’s toxicology report. She was arrested a week before her disappearance for selling meth.
I also discovered, through information publicly available in news reports, Keeslyn and Caleb actually lived on the same street – Caleb lived at 4673 Old Federal Road in Chatsworth, and Keeslyn’s address was 4871 Old Federal Road. It’s definitely possible they knew of eachother, but Keeslyn’s dad and the GCSO says they have not discovered any evidence of communication between the two.
What happened to Caleb? What happened to Keeslyn? And are these cases connected?
Links:
Body found in marshy area identified as Chatsworth man reported missing on Jan. 16
Caleb Nathaniel Smith Obituary
Chatsworth man’s death ruled a result of meth intoxication
Update: Body found in Gordon County ID’d as that of Caleb Nathaniel Smith
Trucker’s Daughter Vanishes Under Mysterious Circumstances From Georgia Flying J
missing people & true crime research 
depending on the year a white nissan and white toyota corolla can be nearly identical
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