Authorities give update after hiker finds burned body at Stone Mountain park

Hiker finds burned body on Stone Mountain

Police say they got a call on Saturday morning form a hiker who told them he had found a burned body under a rock crevice near the top of Stone Mountain..

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - Police are investigating a severely burned body discovered by a hiker near the top of Stone Mountain.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies are working to learn what led up to the man's death.

What we know:

According to John Bankhead of the Stone Mountain Park Police Department, DeKalb County police got a 911 call around 8:18 a.m. from a hiker who said they had found a burned body under a rock crevice at the park.

The GBI and police were focused on a wooded area near the peak of the mountain and just a couple of hundred feet away from the cable car that takes visitors to the top.

The gruesome discovery shut down the tram for hours. The Skyride is now back open, and the park is still allowing visitors to use the trails.

While officials say the area where the body was found was one usually visited by park-goers, it was not fenced off.

Dig deeper:

On Sunday, the Stone Mountain Park Department of Public Safety released a statement saying the parents of the man, a white male in his 20s, provided a note to Stone Mountain Park police, indicating the death to be a suicide.  

"The note was very specific about the method and location of the planned suicide which was consistent with the death scene," the statement reads in part. "Given the sensitivity and possible impact of reporting of suicides, Park police are not releasing the name of the deceased and ask that a link be provided to the Georgia Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988."

What they're saying:

"The body was under an overhang, a rock overhang, and somebody had piled up rocks in front of the overhang to make it very private. And it's a number of rocks that, you know, you see around this area of the mountain. It's not in an area where hikers usually go. It's, you know, out of the way. People don't know it's there."

Bankhead described the scene as "one of the weirdest" he has ever seen, calling the situation "unusual."

"I've seen nothing like it and I don't recall something like this ever happening at the park," Bankhead said.

College student David Farmer says he's hiked Stone Mountain many times and was shocked to hear that a body had been found. 

"I've never seen anything like that. I've been here a lot and never seen anything like that," Farmer said. "It's a little scary, and it's kind of somber." 

Despite the discovery, officials say that the public should not be concerned about their security at the park.

What's next:

The GBI has responded to the scene to assist with the death investigation.

The body was sent to the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.

Authorities say they did not get the 911 caller's identity and are hoping to speak with him or anyone else who may have information that could help with the investigation.