PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Law enforcement has identified remains connected to a 2014 Paulding County cold case.

The sheriff’s office announced Thursday that the remains found in 2021 belong to Thomas Joe Kratzer.

Kratzer’s family reported him missing in February 2014 after they hadn’t heard from him since October 2013. In September 2021, a property owner found skeletal remains while getting land ready for a new residential build.

Law enforcement went through the area and collected a skull and several bones, but they were not able to identify any signs of trauma, the sheriff’s office said.

In 2023, the remains were sent to Othram, a forensic genetic genealogy company, for advanced testing. Funding fell through, but with help from the district attorney’s office, the she

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