Body found in Athens is possibly that of missing woman

A missing person flyer for Adriana Castañeda

By Joe Johnson

Police on Tuesday possibly discovered the body of an Athens woman who went missing nearly three weeks ago.

Thirty-eight-year-old Kathwood Drive resident Adriana Castañeda was reported to be missing on March 4, and she was dating a man who lived in a house at 110 Maple Forge Drive, located next to where the body was discovered by police during the course of an investigation.

The man is going through a contested divorce with a woman with whom he once shared the house, according to a family friend, who said that the man "just showed up in Mexico, which is concerning."

Police in front of 110 Maple Forge Drive on Wednesday (photo by Dawn Hawkins Johnson )

Police said positive identification of the body, and the cause of death, were pending the results of an autopsy at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab.

Athens-Clarke County police Lt. Shaun Barnett said investigators were looking into the possibility that the woman had been murdered.

"We are not ruling anything out, including foul-play," he said.

Barnett, who is ACCPD's public information officer, would not disclose the nature of the investigation that led to the body's discovery . "No additional information is being released at this time," he said.