DAHLONEGA, Ga. — The Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday that the 2001 homicide of Herman Wilder has been officially solved through DNA analysis, bringing closure to a case that remained unsolved for more than two decades.

Sheriff Stacy Jarrard confirmed that investigators identified Carroll Dean Burrell of Rabun County as the individual responsible for Wilder's death on May 25, 2001. Burrell, who was 41 at the time of the crime, is now deceased.

"The family never gave up," Jarrard said in an interview with 11Alive's Kaitlyn Ross. "They would reach out every few years asking if there was any news. Our biggest hope was always the DNA, and now we can finally give them closure."

Deputies initially responded to reports of a violent assault at the Golden Hills Apartments in Da

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