After an extensive search on foot and by air Tuesday, Walton County Sheriff’s Office reported that the body of Kelsey Clark, 14, of Between had been located. Foul play is not suspected.
The teen was discovered missing on Nov. 12 when it was found that she did not take her book bag to school. The school reported that she did not get on the bus. She was a 9th grade student at Walnut Grove High School.
After none of her friends appeared to have any contact with her and a forensic search of any electronics she had access to didn’t turn up any information, WCSO conducted a door-to-door search on Sunday without any success. Sheriff Joe Chapman said he did not have a good feeling about the outcome of this case and Tuesday he called for an all out search of the area around her home.
“We get hundreds of complaints about runaways and we never go to this extent,” Chapman said. “My men and women have worked non-stop. We had people checking in Madison County where she lived before here. We got together this morning and decided that we were going to have this all out search.”
A helicopter from Georgia State Patrol and local members of Fire, EMS and law enforcement conducted the search, giving the sad update later that the body of the teenager had indeed been located.
According to family, Kelsey had lost both her parents and an older sister had custody of her. Her father passed away last November, at which time she moved to Walton County.