One day before her remains were found burning on the side of a South Fulton road, friends of Brittany Wicklein lost touch with her.
The 31-year-old woman was reported missing Thursday after she was last seen at a business strip in northwest Atlanta. Police circulated her photo Thursday night, asking for the public’s help to locate her.
Less than eight hours later, firefighters in South Fulton responded to a call about a grass fire on the side of Jones Road near Ga. 42. They arrived about 4:30 a.m. and doused the flames, only to find a woman’s body, according to city spokesman Gary Leftwich.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Wicklein’s identity Monday.
South Fulton police believe the woman was killed somewhere in the city of Atlanta’s jurisdiction before her body was set on fire Friday morning. Atlanta police canceled the lookout for Wicklein on Friday afternoon but have not released any details about their homicide case.
According to the initial missing person report, a friend told police Wicklein was last seen in the area of Simpson Plaza in the 700 block of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard. She was wanted on a charge of aggravated battery out of Sangamon County, Illinois, in the Springfield area, Atlanta police said.
Her family believes Wicklein was abducted from outside her apartment on Magnolia Street, about five blocks from Simpson Plaza, before she was murdered. She is survived by two children, her mother and her brother, her family said on a GoFundMe page.
They are trying to raise money to take Wicklein’s body back to Indiana, according to the page. The campaign had raised nearly $8,000 of its $10,000 goal as of Tuesday morning.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
About the Author
