Authorities Identify Body in Georgia Woods as That of Fugitive Professor Wanted in Killings
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A body found hidden in dirt and brush Saturday in the north Georgia woods is a professor accused of killing his wife and two others, authorities said.
A massive manhunt had been under way for University of Georgia marketing professor George Zinkhan, who vanished after the April 25 shootings at a community theater near the Atlanta campus.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation State Crime laboratory confirmed Saturday evening that the remains discovered earlier in northwest Athens-Clarke County were those of Zinkhan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two guns were found with the fugitive professor's body, according to Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Joseph Lumpkin.
The guns matched those described by witnesses to the shootings, though police did not say how they believe Zinkhan died.
Authorities said they would not release a cause of death or say whether Zinkhan left a note until a press conference Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Click here for photos.
Click here for the 911 call transcripts.
Cadaver dogs found Zinkhan's body about 10 miles west of Athens in thick woods in Bogart, where he lived.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Searchers — as many as 200 at one point — had been scouring the woods since his Jeep was found wrecked and abandoned in a ravine about a mile away a week ago.
Reached by phone at her home in Baltimore, his mother, Mary, said she was aware of the discovery.
"I've heard that news," she said. "I have nothing to say about it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Zinkhan had been missing since police said he opened fire on a reunion for the Town & Gown Players, a local theater group.
He argued outside the theater with his wife, Marie Bruce, 47, a family law attorney who was serving as the group's president.
Police say he walked away briefly before returning with two handguns and killing her, along with Clemson University economist and actor Tom Tanner, 40, and Ben Teague, 63, a longtime theater group volunteer who was married to a popular UGA professor. Two other people were injured by bullet fragments.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police at first said they had no motive for the shooting. The FBI said later friends and family indicated Bruce may have been considering a divorce.
Zinkhan was last seen dropping off his children, who were in the car during the shootings but weren't injured, with a neighbor. He said there was an emergency.
Bulletins were issued nationwide and authorities kept watch on airports in case Zinkhan tried to flee to Amsterdam, where he had taught part-time at a university since 2007. Federal authorities later revealed Zinkhan had an upcoming flight booked to Amsterdam, but the professor never showed up at the airport.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Zinkhan had been a professor in the university's Terry College of Business and had no disciplinary problems, school officials said. He had taught at UGA since the 1990s and was fired after the shootings.
"I express my sincerest condolences to the loved ones and friends of the victims of this tragedy," UGA President Michael Adams said. "Our hearts go out to each of them as they try to bring closure to and cope with the pain and sorrow these losses of life have caused them. May they ultimately find healing and peace."
Bob Covington, the neighbor who Zinkhan dropped his children off with after the shooting, called Saturday's discovery "another sad chapter to the story."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"For the community, the families, his kids and this neighborhood, this last chapter will provide some healing," Covington said. "It's been two weeks of people being on pins and needles, every time you see a police car. I think this will ease a lot of tension. People can get back to their lives and move on from this horrible tragedy."
Click here for more on the story from MyFOXAtlanta.com.
FOX News' Jonathan Serrie and The Associated Press contributed to this report.