Gwinnett County Lyft driver found dead picked up passenger before going missing

Update:

Kimbala Mason’s fiancé, Turner Ray, reported her missing on April 4, 2021. He told police that he had last seen her at about midnight earlier that day when she left for work as a Lyft driver. He had called her at about 3 a.m. when she responded with a text that she had a passenger in the vehicle. The 46-year-old Stone Mountain (Gwinnett County) woman was driving a 2020 Blue Chevy Blazer and did have a gun in the vehicle. When she did not return home, Ray reported her missing. A police check did not show that her vehicle had been involved in any accident and she was placed on a missing persons list. Further investigation led to the home of Adam Heard and a search by Barrow County Sheriff’s Office on April 6 located Mason’s body in a crawl space.

Heard was arrested and is charged with Concealing the Death of Another, Tampering with Evidence, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Theft by Taking – Motor Vehicle, Theft by Taking, and Violation of Probation. Further charges are possible pending an autopsy and cause of death.

Initial story

Photo of Adam Heard courtesy of Barrow County Sheriff’s Office

Barrow County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that the location of a body in a Barrow County home close to the Walton County line has resulted in the arrest of Adam Heard of 31 Tanners Bridge Road, Bethlehem.

BCSO reported on their Facebook page that this morning, April 6, 2021, members of the Criminal Investigative Division went to Heard’s house on information that could potentially lead to the location of Kim Mason who was reported missing out of Gwinnett County. Sgt.J.R. Richter, public information officer for Gwinnett County Police Department, said that Mason was first reported to Gwinnett County as a missing person on April 4, 2021.

Investigators with BCSO determined there was evidence of a crime at the home on Tanners Bridgets Road and, after obtaining a search warrant, located the body of the missing woman buried in a crawlspace of the residence.

Heard was subsequently arrested and has been charged with Concealing the Death of Another, Tampering with Evidence, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, Theft by Taking – Motor Vehicle, Theft by Taking, and Violation of Probation. He is being held in Barrow County Detention Center pending his first appearance.

The BCSO is working closely with Gwinnett County Police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in this case. The investigation is ongoing and there are possible pending charges based upon the outcome of the autopsy.