Mother of 2 found dead in Jonesboro

By Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Police identified a body found Wednesday night behind a Jonesboro apartment complex as that of a Riverdale mother of two.

Rochelle Alicia Thomas, 30, dropped off her two elementary school-age children at school Wednesday morning, but did not return to pick them up again that afternoon, Jonesboro Police Chief Franklin Allen said.

"I thought maybe it would just be a half hour later, she would be home," son Alex Thomas told Channel 2 Action News.

"I called her and she didn't answer. I thought she would call back, but we kept trying and she wouldn't answer," son Shamar Edwards said.

“Her mother called the Riverdale police and reported her missing,” Allen said. “But she didn’t have any identification on her when she was found, so we had no way of knowing immediately where to look to identify her.”

Police have considered Thomas’ death a homicide.

Her body was partially clothed when she was located behind the Harmony Crossroads Apartments in the 800 block of Tara Boulevard, police said.

Thomas’ car was located Thursday afternoon at a Clayton County location police declined to reveal.

Through coordination Thursday with the GBI, which has now taken lead of the investigation, both Riverdale and Jonesboro police were able to identify Thomas.

Medical examiners at the GBI Crime Lab completed an autopsy Thursday, but police are withholding the results, including the cause of Thomas’ death, Riverdale Police Chief Samuel Patterson said.

“We don’t want to talk about the means,” he said. “It could compromise the investigation.”

Allen said investigators are interviewing several persons of interest, and said he believes Thomas knew who killed her.

"Whoever did this to my child, God help you," Rochelle Thomas' mother, Beverly Thomas, told Channel 2. "You've torn up my family and hurt us badly."

Police are asking the public’s help. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Riverdale police at 770-909-5423.

--Dispatch editor Angel K. Brooks contributed to this report.