WALKER COUNTY –Coroner Joey Vick confirmed that a body found in an illegal dump site in Walker County Tuesday night has been identified as Nicholas Hawkins.
Vick didn’t say how Hawkins dies, but said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
Sheriff James Underwood confirmed the body had been located on Tuesday night. It was not known if the remains were those of Nicholas Hawkins, a 19-year-old Dora teen who had been reported missing.
The body was wrapped up and dumped in an area off of KD Byrd Station Road. The body remained wrapped until the autopsy.
Dora police asked for help in locating Nicholas Hawkins on Sunday and said the teen may be in danger. Media reports on Tuesday morning indicate that Joshua Adam Reese, 21, is being held as a person of interest.
According to reports, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office executed an arrest warrant issued from Walker County in Morris and took one person into custody overnight.
ABC 33/40 reported that Reese was arrested on the 3000 block of Jackson Road between Morris and Pinson under a warrant from Walker Count
Hawkins told his mother in a phone call that ended abruptly, that Reese was trying to hurt him.
The Dora police released a statement Sunday asking for the public’s help locating a missing teenager from Walker County.
“Nicholas Hawkins has been reported missing and maybe considered in danger,” police said in a statement. “When the family last spoke to him he stated someone was trying to harm him.”
His vehicle was found at a residence in Dora earlier this evening.