Coroner’s Office recovers skeletal remains; Family speaks up

ALBANY, Ga. – After skeletal remains were found behind one Albany cemetery in early October, the family of the man identified is speaking up.

CBS 44’s Brian Roche has the details…

As the Dougherty County Coroner’s Office continues their recovery of the remains of Joey Roberts, we got a chance to speak with the family about the ordeal.

We met Roberts’ son, Landon, as the Coroner’s Office recovered his father’s bones Monday morning…

And, he, his step-sister, and their mother are trying to grasp the situation.

“…He was definitely a family man. Although it was never perfect. He was a good man, with wholehearted intentions, and he was a human at the end of the day. He was a great father. People make mistakes and no one should be shamed…” said Landon Roberts, Joey Roberts’ son.

Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler says that while some of the smaller bones have likely deteriorated or been taken by wild animals, the ones they have recovered are going to be looked at by an anthropologist…

In the hopes that investigators can nail down a cause of death.

“The next step now, we’re sending the bones to the crime lab, to the medical examiner, then over to the anthropologist to see do those bones match up to the skeleton bones that we already have. Is it somebody else’s bones? Based on what we’ve seen so far, it could definitely possibly be his,” said Michael Fowler, Dougherty County Coroner.

Fowler goes on to say that while Roberts’ remains have now been recovered, to keep his grieving family in mind.

“Like I said, we’ve just got to keep the family in prayer. They waited for three years just to determine if this is their loved one. But, they have a lot of unanswered questions; why is he there? Was there foul play involved? That’s just natural,” said Fowler.

For Roberts’ family, finding his remains hasn’t brought them the closure they’ve wanted yet and they still have questions…

But, for the time being, it is something.

“Closure to me is knowing that I can rest assured that he will be able to rest, and we will be able to mourn appropriately without having to be shamed by other people, or him being shamed,” said Landon.

While the investigation now moves to ruling a cause of death, Roberts’ family is hoping that no family has to undergo what they’ve been through over the last month.

Fowler says that foul play has not been ruled out at this time.

Brian Roche reporting.

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