Mother hopeful as search for missing teen enters second year

A desperate search for a missing man in Gwinnett County took another turn Wednesday with the use of cadaver dogs.

Draco, a black German Shepherd who specializes in finding cadaver and live bodies, was searching for any signs of DeCorrius Jones Wednesday. He was searching in the woods near the Sugarloaf Crossing Apartment Complex in the Lawrenceville area where Jones disappeared from in October of 2016.

“He ran out of the house with his basketball shorts on no shirt no shoes no wallet no cell phone and I haven’t seen him since,” said Shacora Jones, his mother.

She said her son ran out of the apartment in an altered state after she says he’d been on a “bad trip on acid.”

Gwinnett County Police said Jones faces a couple of counts of misdemeanor assault for lashing out against his girlfriend and mother. But Mrs. Jones remains hopeful her now 19-year-old son is safe and may be getting help to stay hidden.

“I’m not going to say they are friends. I just think it’s somebody that he knows that I don’t know. I think they think they are helping,” said Mrs. Jones.

Jane Holmes, the private investigator working with Gwinnett County Police Department and hired by DeCorrius Jone’s family, said Chance, the other dog used in the search, found a bone about 12 inches long. It was checked on the spot.

“We did find a bone. Gwinnett County Police sent a photo to the medical examiner’s office and they sent it to an anthropologist and he said it was not human,” said Holmes.

The day-long search on Wednesday ultimately turned up nothing, begging the question where is DeCorriuss Jones?

Tracy Sargent, who operates Canine Search and Rescue Specialist, said it’s never easy on the family of the missing person.

“We certainly hoped we were going to find something here but at the same time we didn’t but the family still wants to know. The not knowing is the worse,” said Sargent.

Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of DeCorriuss Jones is asked to contact the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Jane Holmes the private investigator also said people can message her on the Facebook page set up to find DeCorriuss Jones at Facebook.com/pattylanepi.