Update: Gwinnett PD announce murder charges and arrest in case of woman’s body found at Gwinnett Place Mall

Update

Gwinnett County Police Department have charged the boyfriend with murder in the case of the body of a young Asian woman that was found at Gwinnett Place Mall in December 2017.

According to a press release from GCPD, Emmett Davis, 21, has been charged with aggravated assault and felony murder following an investigation into the body of Silling Man that was found in a store in Gwinnett Place Mall about two weeks after it was believed that she had died. Davis was her boyfriend at the time of the murder. Detectives believe they had been living together in hotels near Gwinnett Place Mall at the time that her family reported her missing.

Davis left the state following the murder, but detectives learned he had since returned as was living in Lawrenceville. On June 14, 2018, detectives obtained search warrants and warrants for Davis’ arrest. He was taken into custody without incident and is currently being held at Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond.

Initially, Man’s death was not officially ruled a homicide, but GCPD report that the Homicide Unit investigated Man’s death as a homicide from the outset due to the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. In March 2018, the Medical Examiner’s Office officially classified her death as a homicide.

Update

Gwinnett County Police have announced that the after a composite sketch of the victim was published, the woman whose body was found at Gwinnett Place Mall on Dec. 21, 2017 has been identified. She has been positively identified, with help from tips and the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office as Silling A. Man, 19, of Lawrenceville.  She was of Cambodian descent.

According to an updated press release from Gwinnett County Police Department, she was previously reported as a missing adult on Oct. 8, 2017 by a family member. She was subsequently removed from the missing register after returning home. The family said she ran away again shortly after the missing person case was closed, but no other missing person report was filed.

The case is still be investigated but has not at this stage been ruled a homicide by the Medical Examiner’s Office. Police report that the woman had been dead for about two weeks when her body was found.  There were no surveillance cameras in the mall corridors at the time.

The family did not have any contact with her since her re-disappearance in October but she reportedly visited her previous place of employment at the Perimeter Mall on about Nov. 20 to pick up her last pay check. She was a student at Georgia State University, though her current status is unknown. Police are looking into her activities and acquaintances leading up to her death.

If anyone has any information about her from mid-October to mid-December, they are asked to call GCPD detectives at 770 513-5300.  The family of Silling Man has asked for privacy in this matter.

Initial story

(Duluth, Georgia)  The Gwinnett County Police Department Criminal Investigation Section is seeking the public’s help in identifying the remains of an Asian woman found on Dec. 21, 2017 in a vacant vendor space in the food court of Gwinnett Place Mall. A maintenance worker said he found her body at about 11 a.m. while doing a routine inspection of the unit. He told police he climbed over the counter to inspect the space and found the woman’s body in the back room.

The woman is described as 5 feet tall, weighing about 100 pounds and having black hair. She was wearing a black mesh jump suit and her black tennis shoes were lying next to her feet. She is believed to be about 20 – 30 years old. The sketch was provided by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.

Police report there were no obvious signs of trauma to her body and at this point in the investigation it is not considered a criminal homicide. They say the main goal is to identify her and then conduct an investigation into her past and people she associated with as well as the timeline leading up to the discovery of her body.

“It’s very likely that a family is out there wondering about the whereabouts of their missing loved one.  Though this may not be the outcome they may have been hoping for, we still feel it’s important to bring them closure, as heart-breaking as it is,” Cpl. Michele Pihera, public information officer with GCPD, said in the press release.

If anyone has any information to share in this case, they are asked to contact GCPD detectives at 770-513-5300.  To remain anonymous, tipsters should contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or visit www.crimestoppersatlanta.org.  Crime Stoppers tipsters can receive up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment in this case.  Case Number:  17-118774.