By Seamus McGraw

March 10, 2006

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WAYCROSS, Ga. (Crime Library ) — Authorities late Friday positively identified a body pulled from a Waycross swamp as Donnie Lavan Streat Junior, the 27-year-old son of a local politician. His remains were found a stone's throw from the spot where his abandoned truck was found, partially submerged on a flooded dirt road late last month.

Authorities had initially told Crime Library that they believed the body was Streat's, but that a positive identification could not be made until autopsy results were completed. Those results, returned Friday, removed any doubt about the identity of the remains, said Vicky Metz-Vickery, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Authorities say there was no evidence of foul play, nor any sign of trauma and and it remained unclear why the 27-year-old son of a former state senator went missing nearly three weeks ago, Metz-Vickery said.

The young man, known as Van Junior to his friends, was last seen on Feb. 15 after completing his shift at a local CSX railroad facility. The young man, who was, according to officials, planning to get engaged, had planned to meet with friends that night but never showed up.

Two days later, after family members became alarmed and reported him missing, his pickup truck was found partially submerged on a flooded road in a remote area of the county, an area dotted with swamps and wetlands.

Several large-scale searches were conducted, but turned up nothing until Thursday, when police, acting on a tip received by the Ware County Sheriff's Department, returned to the area where the truck was found. Authorities say the body was recovered about 300 yards from the spot where Van Streat's truck was found.

Contact Seamus McGraw at seamusm@ptd.net

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