Search Ends in Tragedy as Remains of Missing 21-Year-Old Kenny Jackson Jr. are Found in Oglethorpe County Forest

The frantic, week-long search for a young Acworth man has come to a heartbreaking conclusion. Just in time for a holiday season no family should have to face this way, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed that human remains found deep in the woods of Oglethorpe County belong to 21-year-old Kenny Jackson Jr. For those who knew him as the kind-hearted skater always ready to teach a stranger a new trick, the news is a devastating blow.

Kenny’s story began to take a worrying turn back on November 19. He was last seen at the Brook Run Skate Park in Dunwoody, a place where he often spent his free time. When he didn’t come home to Acworth that night, his mother, Wendy Jackson, knew something was wrong. She told reporters that Kenny always answered her texts and calls. When his phone went silent and his bank account showed zero activity, a mother’s intuition shifted from worry to pure dread.

The break in the case didn’t come from a high-tech surveillance net, but from a pair of off-duty police officers out for a weekend of deer hunting. Deep in a federal wildlife management forest, about eight miles from the nearest paved road, the hunters stumbled upon a silver Hyundai Elantra parked at the dead end of a rugged dirt trail near the tiny town of Maxeys. At first, they figured it was just another local vehicle, but when it was still sitting there the following weekend, their training kicked in.

They ran the tags and realized this wasn’t just a misplaced car; it was the vehicle belonging to a missing person from 70 miles away. The discovery sparked a massive search of the dense, remote terrain. It wasn’t long before the Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office located the remains that have now been positively identified as Kenny.

Investigators are still trying to piece together how Kenny ended up so far from home. His car was spotted by a license plate reader in Oconee County just 90 minutes after he left the skate park, but what happened between that highway camera and the remote dirt road remains a mystery. His mother fears that he might have gone to meet someone and things “went left,” but for now, the GBI hasn’t released a cause of death.

Back in his community, Kenny is remembered as more than just a headline. At Swift Cantrell Park in Kennesaw, a 74-year-old man recalled meeting him recently. When the older man joked about being too old to learn to skate, Kenny didn’t laugh. He simply grabbed his board and told him, “You’re not too old. I’ll teach you.” That was the kind of kid he was—respectful, patient, and full of life.

The investigation is very much active tonight. While the family finally has the answer to where Kenny is, they are still a long way from knowing why this happened. For now, a quiet corner of the Georgia woods remains a crime scene as authorities work to find justice for a young man who just wanted to skate.