Caleb Nathaniel Smith

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Gordon County Sheriffs Office (GA)

Death Location:

Resaca, Georgia

Summary:

Caleb Nathaniel Smith was a 21-year-old from Chatsworth, Georgia, born November 6, 1998. He was reported missing on January 16, 2020, after being last seen at a truck stop on State Route 136/Interstate 75 in Resaca at 2 a.m. On February 2, 2020, his body was found in a poorly drained, heavily overgrown area of woods between the Sugar Valley and Hill City communities in Gordon County. His death was ruled an accidental death as a result of methamphetamine intoxication following a toxicology report.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Death:

On Thursday, January 16, 2020, Caleb told his grandmother he was going to the nearby city of Rome to hang out with friends for a few hours and asked her to leave the deadbolt unlocked because he planned to return home that night. He stopped to get gas at the Flying J gas station/Denny's restaurant near State Route 136 and I-75 in Resaca, Georgia. He entered the gas station at 12:32 AM per gas station camera. The gas station camera showed one male customer sitting alone at a table in the Denny's section; Caleb sat down at a different table facing the man. A few minutes later, he called his grandmother to let her know where he was and that he didn't have enough gas to get to Rome, and said he would ask the man at Flying J for $5 for gas. His car was found backed into the Denny's parking lot at the truck stop, his phone was found in the dash of his car with the battery taken out, and his car keys were found in the floorboard of his car. Deputies searched the area around the truck stop on January 16th and 17th, both on the ground and in the air, but their search yielded no results. On February 2, 2020, a body was found in the woods between the Sugar Valley and Hill City communities, later identified as Smith, in a poorly drained, heavily overgrown area. His body was found five miles away from the Flying J completely nude, and his clothes were not found near his body.

Additional Details:

Although the GBI autopsy revealed no indications of violence or evidence of foul play, the cause and manner of death had yet to be determined and officers awaited toxicology results from Smith's autopsy. The death of Caleb Nathaniel Smith was ruled an accidental death as a result of methamphetamine intoxication following a toxicology report by the state crime lab. The coroner's toxicology screening test came back positive for methamphetamine at a level of 0.24. In January 2024, Caleb's mother received a report from the Georgia Forestry Commission that said the fire near where Caleb's body was found was determined to be incendiary, with the investigator writing that the fire was set in hopes of destroying the body or any evidence. In 2024, Caleb's mother April Arrington claimed that Gordon County authorities prematurely closed the case without examining or pursuing potential leads in her son's death. Arrington started a petition online to get her son's case reopened and said she would push to figure out what happened to Caleb, stating as his mother it's her duty to see justice done in his case and that she had to go four years feeling ignored. A Celebration of Life Service was conducted on Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 3:00 pm in the Chapel of Owen Funeral Home, with interment following in the West Hill Cemetery in Dalton, GA.

Case Last Updated:

Sep 27, 2026