GBI finds car rented by missing Navy Sailor sunken in river near where his body was found

TELFAIR COUNTY, Ga. — Earlier this month, Devin Jeter, a U.S. Navy Sailor from DeKalb County, was reported missing when he never arrived in Jacksonville, Florida where he was deployed.

Last week, a fisherman in Telfair County found 25-year-old Jeter’s body in the Ocmulgee River. But the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the Jeep Compass he rented to get to Jacksonville was nowhere to be found.

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The GBI says the Georgia State Patrol Dive Team found the missing Jeep sunken in the Ocmulgee River at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday morning near where Jeter’s body was found.

Investigators say there was no obvious damage to the Jeep.

Telfair County is about three hours from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport where Jeter was last seen.

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“(He was) a caring, thoughtful person who enjoyed life, and he was always a happy person,” Debra Smith, Devin’s great aunt, told Channel 2′s Michael Doudna.

According to the family, he took a rental car at 10:30 pm on Thursday to make the overnight drive so he could report for duty in Jacksonville the next morning.

“You can’t imagine this guy, as responsible as he is, disappearing,” Gary Smith, Devin’s great uncle, said.

There was no identification on Jeter’s body, but family says they were able to identify him by the crosses tattooed on his arms.

The GBI is still asking for anyone who knows anything that could assist investigators to contact them at 478-374-6988.

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