Joshua Lee Jackson, 25, of Athens, Georgia, was reported missing in mid-December 2018 along with a friend, Derrick Davion Ruff, also 25. The two were last seen in a Ford Expedition that was later found abandoned in a neighborhood in unincorporated Lawrenceville. For three months the families had no word; on March 17, 2019, the bodies of Jackson and Ruff were discovered inside a unit at the Extra Space Storage on Lawrenceville Highway. Both men had been shot to death, and investigators believed the killings occurred in the storage unit around the time they went missing.

Gwinnett County Police, assisted by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, linked the murders to the Gangster Disciples street gang. A grand jury returned a 21-count indictment naming five suspects. Four men — Lesley Chappelle Green, 30; Shabazz Larry Guidry, 24; Robert Maurice Carlisle, 30; and Philmon Deshawn Chambers, 30 — were charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and concealing the death of another. A fifth man, Justin Jamal Davis, 29, was charged with concealing the death of another and conspiracy. All five faced counts under the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism Prevention Act; the indictment alleged the victims were tortured and killed in retaliation after being accused of cooperating with law enforcement.

Did anyone in the Athens or Lawrenceville areas know Jackson or Ruff and have information about their movements in December 2018?