Crime & Safety
Missing DeKalb Woman Found Dead In Wood Line
The 79-year-old woman had been missing since Sunday and was last seen in Ellenwood prior to her death.
ELLENWOOD, GA — The body of a 79-year-old woman who was once the subject of a Mattie's Call has been recovered from a wood line near the 3900 block of Old Ivy Court, DeKalb County Police said Wednesday night.
After searching for days, police said they found the body of Ernestine Merritt on Wednesday behind Old Ivy.
The Mattie's Call was issued after Merritt disappeared Sunday morning. Police said she was last seen around 4:15 a.m. in the 2400 block of Yolanda Trail.
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Merritt was an usher at Greenforest Community Baptist Church in Decatur.
"We ask that you continue to lift Erni's family in prayer as they grieve and remember a life now held safely in God's eternal care," the church wrote Thursday on Facebook.
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The cause and manner of death were not released, but police said they do not believe foul play was involved.
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