The Rabun County Sheriff's Office released Friday morning more details about a murder investigation that led to the arrests of two men earlier in the week, one of which followed an hours-long manhunt near Gillsville.
According to a press release issued by the agency, the investigation began Sunday, Aug. 6, after the Hall County Sheriff's Office contacted Rabun County Investigators about a possible homicide in Rabun County.
Meanwhile, the Rabun County Sheriff's Office began receiving reports about a missing woman, Martha Angela Ledford, who was last seen about a week prior.
Rabun County Investigators discovered a possible crime scene later Sunday evening with what appeared to be a shallow grave. The agency then requested the help of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Authorities found a body early Monday morning in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Later that day, authorities executed a search warrant at a home on Peppers Lane in Clayton, where a K9 officer confirmed human remains had been in what appeared to be a shallow grave. Authorities simultaneously responded to a location on Patterson Gap Road where the K9 located a body that could not be identified.
The body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab and is awaiting identification.
Authorities then took out warrants for the arrest of Keegan Phillips, 23, of Otto, North Carolina, on a murder charge. They were preparing to arrest him Tuesday morning when authorities learned Phillips was at a home in Hall County and being held at gunpoint by the homeowner.
Phillips was able to escape from the homeowner and fled into the woods before authorities arrived. Authorities searched the Gillsville area and were able to arrest Phillips later Tuesday evening.
During the search for Phillips, authorities conducted another search warrant at a home on Alexander Lane in Clayton, where another crime scene was discovered.
Phillips was arrested and charged with murder. Meanwhile, Robert Lee Peppers, 62, of Lula, was arrested and charged with concealing the death of another and abandonment of a dead body.
Both men are being held in the Rabun County Jail without bond.
"During the course of this investigation, it revealed that this was an isolated incident and there was no immediate threat to the citizens of Rabun County," the Rabun County Sheriff's Office said in the release. "The delay of public information on this incident was due to it being determined an isolated incident but primarily it was the result of critical evidence needing retrieved before it could possibly be destroyed hindering the prosecution of the case."
Multiple area agencies were involved in the investigation.
