ATLANTA – The The family of a Marine specialist from metro Atlanta is mourning his death and has many unanswered questions. The body of 25-year-old Devin Jeter was found in South Georgia days after he was reported missing.

“He was a loving person who loved the military, who loved his country and loved his family,” Debra Smith said.

Debra Smith’s eyes light up with pride when she talks about her grandson. The 25-year-old was in the Navy, currently stationed in Jacksonville, Florida.

“He was an aviation ordnance man. He was responsible for all the weapons systems,” said Gary Smith, Devin’s uncle.

Devin came home to Atlanta last week. On Thursday evening, November 7, he went to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and rented a Jeep Compass so he could drive back to Jacksonville to get to work the next day.

He never appeared in Florida again and his family never heard from him again.

“We have a picture of him in the car leaving the airport and that’s the last we know of him,” Gary Smith said.

They filed a missing person’s report with the Atlanta Police Department and spread the word on social media.

“It was six days we didn’t know,” Debra Smith said.

What the family didn’t know at the time, on Monday, four days after Devin left Atlanta, a fisherman in Telfair County, nearly 200 miles away, discovered a man’s body at a boat ramp along the Ocmulgee River .

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation released this image showing the vehicle driven by 25-year-old Devin Jeter, whose body was found in the Ocmulgee River near Lumber City on Nov. 11, 2024. (GBI)

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the man had no identification, no signs of trauma to his body and they had no idea who he was.

Two days later, the GBI called Devin’s family. When Devin’s father described the tattoos his son had, it was confirmed that the body found along the river was Devin.

“He was a Christian and the tattoos on both sides of his arms were crosses, so the identification was made from that,” Debra said.

The rental Jeep he was driving has not been found. According to the police report, Devin called Enterprise Rental Car Saturday morning, saying “The car is lost.”

That only adds to the mystery and the many questions the family has. They try to make sense of it all, but they fail.