PELHAM, Ga. (WALB) - A person has been identified in one month later after their body was found burned in a car in Pelham on April 19.

Coroner Robby Willis and the GBI Crime lab identified the man as 50-year-old Marlo Battle.

Mitchell County Coroner Robby Willis said he was called about a month ago to a vehicle fire on Kierce Road in Pelham with one occupant.

Willis said the person could not be identified at the time, but the vehicle was later identified as Battle’s. Willis said the state medical examiner contacted him this week and told him DNA testing had positively identified the person as Battle.

Tamika Battle, who identified herself as Marlo Battle’s only sister, said the family was unaware of the incident when it happened April 18. She said they received calls April 20 from people in the community saying Battle’s truck had been burned and that he was inside.

“We were not informed by no officials that our brother truck was found, burned, and there was a body inside of the truck,” she said.

Battle said relatives went to see the vehicle and believed it was her brother’s truck. She said she also went to the location where the truck was found and did not see any area roped off.

She said the family did not hear from officials until April 24, when she contacted the commissioner’s office, which helped connect the family with an investigator.

“They cannot tell us that it is his body,” she said officials told the family at that time.

Battle said the waiting period for confirmation was devastating and that the family still has not been told whether the case is being treated as a homicide.

“Not even from the GBI, from the sheriff’s department, no one called yet to this day to tell us what they have found, what they are doing,” she said.

Battle said the family received a call confirming identification after she posted on Facebook about not having DNA results or an autopsy report.

“Right before I post that we did not have DNA results or an autopsy, he had just called them. They told him no information was ready,” she said, referring to the coroner. “And all of a sudden, when I post that post, we get a call the next day.”

Willis said the medical examiner initially tried to identify the victim using dental records, but that was unsuccessful.

“They started with dental records, but then that didn’t work,” Willis said. “So, then we had to go to the children and get them to give us DNA. And we sent the DNA to the GBI.”

Battle also said the coroner wanted to notify the family earlier but told her an investigator would not allow it.

She said the family is still waiting for an autopsy report and wants more communication from law enforcement.

Willis said an autopsy has been done, but the results are not back yet. He said the case is currently labeled as pending and that he has not been told the cause or manner of death.

“We want a clear, honest — and I mean honesty, with a capital H — investigation,” she said. “We want answers.”

What we know

• Date family says the incident occurred: April 18, 2026.
• How family says they learned about it: Calls from people in the community on April 20.
• When family says an investigator first contacted them: April 24, after they reached out to the commissioner’s office.
• Where officials say the vehicle fire happened: Kearse Road in Pelham.
• What officials say is still pending: Autopsy results; coroner said the case is currently labeled as pending and he has not been told the cause or manner of death.

What we don’t know

Authorities have not been quoted beyond the coroner’s account in interviews. The family says they have not been told:

• Whether the death is being investigated as a homicide.
• What evidence has been found.
• A timeline for release of the autopsy report.

What the family is asking for

Battle said the family wants regular updates and transparency.

“It’s just a lot of unanswered questions. The trees looked like they had already been pressed down before the truck was placed there. I need some answers. That’s all I can tell you. I want answers. And I’m going to keep praying until Jeremiah 33.3 is answered. And God said, if I call him, and I ask him to show me unseen things that are fixed in, he should expose it. And that’s what I will do until God get these answers for us. Because that’s all we got to rely on is God right now.” Battle says.

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