UNION CITY, Ga. — Police are searching for a son wanted on suspicion of the murder of a local woman found dead in a hotel Saturday.
Union City police said the man is considered armed and dangerous.
The victim's family told Channel 2's Liz Artz that Jennifer Gatewood knew the suspect for several months, but they were unaware of his violent past.
"Just took something very dear to us," said Gatewood's mother, Carol Brown.
Just a few hours after Brown learned her 25-year-old daughter had been murdered inside a Union City hotel room, she said she wanted the suspects caught.
Police are looking for 33-year-old Irwin Clint Dresbach. His mother surrendered to police after being named as a person of interest, but police do not expect to charge her. Officers think Dresbach is traveling in a white Dodge Durango and could be headed to Alabama or South Carolina.
"I just beg ya'll if ya'll see these people please call police. My stepdaughter, my wife's daughter, a little boy's mother away from us," said Gatewood's stepfather Pete Brown.
Detectives think Dresbach fatally shot Gatewood early Saturday morning at the Garden Inn and Suites. They don't have a motive, but Dresbach had an extensive criminal record. Gatewood was a mother to a 4-year-old boy, her family has now rallied to catch her killer.
"I'm going to miss her. She's going to be missed very much," said Gatewood's sister, Amy Gatewood.
Gatewood's family had met Dresbach several times and said they he always gave them a bad feeling.
"Very, very bad vibes about him. He wasn't a person she needed to be with," Carol Brown said.
Dresbach has an extensive criminal history and had been in and out of jail.