05/08/10: Antonio Battle, 25, Thomson, GA

Antonio Battle

Antonio Edward Battle was reported missing by his family shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday, May 8. The 25-year old Augusta man had gone to a party with some friends earlier that day and had not returned.

Authorities combed a large area around Cedar Rock, Union Church and Three Points roads from about 9 p.m. Saturday, May 8 until 4 a.m. on Sunday, May 9. About eight hours later, family members discovered some of Battle's jewelry near Childers Creek. His body was then found in the vicinity. According to WRDW.com:

"When he gave me his phone, he was going to come back and get that phone." Battle's sister Darlene Hudson said. "He never showed up and he never called."

After Hudson never heard back from her little brother Friday, she knew something was wrong.

"This morning I had to go find him," she said. "I called everybody and we just went looking for him. All the family came together and just found him."

The family's search ended in a creek just outside of Thomson, his cousin Sara Walker said.

"I was hoping that we'd find him alive," Walker said. "But when we found him it was straight shock to the whole family."

"We haven't been knowing what to think or what's been going on," said another cousin of his Shawan. "We just been praying that you know whenever they found him that everything was going to be OK."

The coroner said that there were no visible markings on the victim's body and that he was found lying in a creek bed less than 30 feet from the shoulder of Cedar Rock Road shortly after noon Sunday.

Investigators said there was no evidence to indicate how he met his death. The body is being sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab near Atlanta for an autopsy. The GBI and the McDuffie County Sheriff's office is handling the investigation.

Friends told family members Battle fell out of a car into the creek, but the family doesn't believe it because Battle's jewelry was found nearly a half a mile away.

"Something happened, but nobody is telling," Hudson told WRDW.com. "If somebody knows anything they need to come out and say what happened to Antonio because what they said, it doesn't make sense."

About Antonio Battle

Family members tell News 12 Battle that was a funny person and was always the life of the party. They also said he leaves behind a child and had another child on the way. He and his girlfriend lived in Augusta, Georgia. Prior to that, Battle had lived with his mother on Pine Avenue in Warrenton.

"The whole family going to miss him," Walker said.

"I would never think he would go before me, but I guess what happened, happened," Hudson said about her younger brother.

Anyone with information should contact the McDuffie County Sheriff's Department at (706) 595-2040, the GBI office at (706) 595-2575 or the Georgia State Patrol at (706) 595-2622.


Case Details

Name/age: Antonio Battle, 25
Last seen: 05/08/10, Thomson, GA
Recovered: 05/09/10, Childers Creek, Thomson, GA
Residence: Augusta, GA
Hometown: Warrenton, GA