AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A dead body found in a wooded area behind an Augusta apartment complex has been identified as a man reported missing a few days earlier.

Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen on Wednesday identified the dead person as Byron Smith, 66, of Augusta.

He’d last been seen Oct. 17 in the area of Deans Bridge Road and Gordon Highway on foot.

That’s not far from where the body was found.

Richmond County Sheriff’s Office deputies converged on the area around 2 p.m. Tuesday after the body was found behind 2213 Southgate Drive at The Pointe at Augusta.

Bowen said the body had been there for “a few days.”

There were at least six Richmond County Sheriff’s Office cars at the scene around 2:35 p.m., but almost as quickly as they got there, deputies dispersed after searching t

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