NORTH FORSYTH – Three suspects, including one from Forsyth and one from Hall County, have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 35-year-old man whose body was found in northeast Forsyth last week.
Tonya Tidwell, 32 of Forsyth County, and 29-year-old Ryan Spark, of Hall County, were arrested Saturday, Jan. 7, two days after the body of David Eric Guice was found on Odyssey Trail, off Pea Ridge Road, which connects Jot Em Down Road and Hwy. 53, according to Deputy Doug Rainwater, a spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.
Jimmie Lee Winkles, 23, was found at a home in Banks County on Sunday, Jan. 8. Rainwater said Winkles is known as a drifter who has temporarily lived in Hall, Banks and Union counties.
All three have been charged with aggravated assault and felony murder and are being held in the Forsyth County Jail.
“Deputies at the scene recalled a recent traffic stop and arrest that had been made a few days prior near this location,” he said.
A search of those records reportedly revealed a female had given her home address as the same location as where the body was found.
Tidwell was arrested during that traffic stop for driving on a suspended license, Rainwater said.
It was not immediately clear how the murder occurred or for what reason, and Rainwater said a cause of death will not be released until the GBI finishes an autopsy.
Winkles was found through an investigation aided by the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and the Banks County Sheriff’s Office and reportedly did not resist arrest once located.
“During the course of this investigation, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit was working with local authorities in extreme north Georgia,” Rainwater said. “We were aware of his general location and knew he was not in Forsyth County. This investigation has been conducted around the clock in order to locate him.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Scene Unit has processed the scene for evidence and transported the body to its crime lab to determine the cause of death.