What began as one police agency aiding another with a missing-person search ended Tuesday with the missing woman and her nephew dead in two different states, and investigators piecing together what happened.
An Alabama sheriff’s office had notified the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office about a missing woman who authorities believed may be in the Canton area, according to Lt. Jay Baker. Early Tuesday, deputies found the woman’s Jeep outside a mobile home, Baker said.
But before deputies could talk to the man inside the home, he shot and killed himself.
“While deputies were searching for the missing woman, a bedroom door slammed and a gun was fired from inside the room,” Baker said in an emailed statement. “Deputies opened the door and discovered Max Zeller, 22, of Alabama, alone in the room with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his mouth.”
Zeller, formerly of Canton, had been a suspect in the woman’s disappearance, according to police.
He died from his injuries after being taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, Baker said.
Hours later, the missing woman was found dead in Alabama, apparently a homicide victim, according to police. Felicia Lindsey, 54, was Zeller’s aunt, police said.
Details regarding Lindsey’s death were not available late Tuesday from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama.
