A body was found around 11 a.m. Wednesday on Tower Road in Long County, law enforcement officials confirmed. No identification has been made and officials could not say whether the body is that of Lori Arrowood, 42, who recently was reported missing from her Gum Branch home.
However, Kenneth Lumpkin has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the recent disappearance of Lori Arrowood, 42, of Gum Branch, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agent Micah Ward.
Arrowood was last seen at her home around 12:30 p.m. Saturday by an electrical repairman.
Ward said Lumpkin, who is a corrections officer with the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, was arrested based on interviews conducted with him and on evidence found in Arrowood's home and the surrounding area.
The GBI agent said the search for Arrowood will continue and the case is under investigation.
The Courier will post more on this story as details become available.
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Below is the story printed in Wednesday's Midweek Bryan County News:
Lori Arrowood's friends and family members haven't seen her since Saturday afternoon. Arrowood's daughter, Jessica Hardy, told detectives from the Liberty County Sheriff's Office she last saw her mother at her Gum Branch residence at 956 John Wells Road around noon.
Hardy said she left the home, went to work and has not seen her mother since.
Hardy said her mother was not feeling well and was dressed in pajamas when Hardy left the house for work on Saturday, according to family spokesperson Paula Robinson.
Robinson said the last person to see Arrowood at her house was an electrical repairman at around 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Robinson said Hardy drove her mother's truck to work because Hardy's car had a dead battery. She said the family thinks Arrowood was going to wait for her daughter to arrive home around 6:30 p.m. with her truck.
Robinson said there were four other vehicles Arrowood could have used if she had wanted to go out. However, the family said Arrowood had no plans to leave the house.
Arrowood's husband, Nathon Arrowood, is deployed to Iraq with the 4th Brigade's 37 Infantry. According to LCSO Detective Tracey Jennings, the military is making arrangements to bring him home.
Robinson said on Tuesday evening that Nathon Arrowood was en route to Georgia.
The couple married last October.
Arrowood is 42, and described as 5 feet, 3 inches tall. Her hair is a brownish auburn color and she weighs about 110 pounds. She has two tattoos - a dolphin on her calf and a heart and a rose on her left thigh.
Jennings said there was no sign of forced entry at the house and Arrowood doesn't appear to suffer from any medical aliments.
On Monday, authorities, friends and soldiers tied to her husband's military unit canvassed an area that covers approximately 30 acres around her residence on John Wells Road. Jennings said the search did not turn up any new clues. A second search was conducted Tuesday along County Line Road. Based on the clothing her daughter said was missing from her closet, authorities believe Arrowood may be wearing blue jeans, brown boots and a white T-shirt. Also missing are her purse and her cell phone. The pajamas Arrowood was wearing when her daughter last saw her were found at the residence. Anyone with information should call 368-3911 or 876-4555.