Body Found Near Flint River Identified as Missing Houston County Man

An autopsy conducted by the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed the identity of a body discovered in the Flint River on January 1, 2025, as 22-year-old Skyler Thomas Black of Houston County. Black had been reported missing on November 29, 2024, and was last seen in the Crooks Landing/Montezuma Bluff area of Macon County. Authorities identified him through dental records and distinctive tattoos.

Black, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, was known to flee from authorities to avoid hospitalization. His truck was located on December 1, 2024, near the Flint River, containing his phone, wallet, tent, wet shoes, and several bottles of water. The circumstances surrounding his death remain under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), which is treating the case as a death investigation. The GBI Crime Lab is continuing to examine evidence.

If anyone has any information regarding this case, please contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Americus at 229-931-2439 or the Macon County Sheriff’s Office in Oglethorpe, Georgia at 478-472-6447. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.