A Statesboro man is being extradited from Ohio back to Bulloch County where a felony warrant has been issued for his arrest in connection with the murder of a local man who had been reported missing on Saturday.

According to a release from Capt. Jared Akins with the Statesboro Police Department, the mother of a 48-year-old Statesboro resident filed a missing person’s report on Oct. 11 with the Statesboro Police Department.

“She reported that she had not seen her son in several days and was concerned for his safety,” Akins wrote in the release. “She was able to provide officers with a description of his vehicle and license plate, which were entered into NCIC and the Flock tag reader system.”

Detectives were able to determine immediately that the missing man’s phone was no longer in Bulloch County, Akins said. Also, they learned that he was last seen with Randall Lamar Williams of Statesboro. Using the Flock tag reader system, the missing man’s vehicle was located near Cincinnati, Ohio.

Officers with the Lockland, Ohio Police Department attempted to stop the vehicle, but it fled, resulting in a pursuit. At the conclusion of the pursuit, Williams, 49, was taken into custody, along with a 17-year-old female passenger. The missing man was not located in the vehicle.

“Further investigation by SPD detectives, working in coordination with Lockland P.D. and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department (Ohio), led to the execution of a search warrant at an abandoned residence off South Main Street in Statesboro,” Akins wrote. “Inside that residence, detectives discovered the body of the missing 48-year-old man.”

Akins said that the victim’s identity and the nature of his injuries are being withheld at this time pending autopsy by the GBI Coastal Crime Lab. His death is being investigated as a homicide, he said.

Randall Lamar Williams currently has active warrants through the Statesboro Police Department charging him with felony murder and aggravated assault. Akins said he will be extradited from Hamilton County, a suburb north of Cincinnati, where he remains in custody on local charges related to the pursuit.

“The Statesboro Police Department extends its gratitude to the Lockland Police Department and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department for their outstanding cooperation and assistance in this case,” Akins wrote.

Anyone with information, is requested to contact Senior Detective Ben Purvis at (912) 764-9911 or submit an anonymous tip at https://statesboropd.com/ using the “Submit a Tip” link.