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Dawson Forest site of cold case investigation
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Levi Frady

A cold murder case going back to 1997 still haunts Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle, but now the investigation is getting a fresh look on 11 Alive TV news in Atlanta.

The body of 11-year-old Levi Frady was found by hunter in a remote area of Dawson Forest one day after he was allegedly abducted near his Forsyth County home on Oct. 22, 1997. News reports at the time said he had been shot three times and his body dumped in a rain-filled pit in Dawson Forest.

Frady's killer was never identified.

"Whoever did it has been real tight-lipped about it," Carlisle said in September when announcing his retirement after 30 years with the department - 20 of those years as its sheriff.

Frady was killed nine months after Carlisle was first elected sheriff in 1997.

"I strongly believe it was somebody Levi knew and trusted. That's what my gut tells me. You go back and look and maybe some people didn't tell us everything they knew because they were afraid that they might be next."

Dawson County Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wooten on Friday confirmed that a crew from 11 Alive visited the site in Dawson Forest where Fradys body was found.

Theyre calling it a coldcase squad, and they came up and reviewed the case, Wooten said. We took them to the site.

The cold case team consists of 11 Alive Reporter Vincent Politan, a former assistant prosecutor in Bergen County, New Jersey; Jospeh Morgan, a Jacksonville State University forensics scholar, and Mike Brooks, a 26-year police veteran and former member of the FBIs Terrorism Task Force.

Pictures of the three, along with a fourth unidentified man walking in Dawson Forest, were posted on Morgans Facebook page.

Weve said somebody knows the person who did it, Capt. Wooten said. Maybe somebody will see the show that has a conscience and come forward.

At the time Frady was murdered, Wooten was not with the Dawson County Sheriffs Office. Long-time sheriffs office investigator Maj. Brandon Branson was the crime scene investigator and led the 11 Alive team to the site.

I requested Brandys help, Wooten said, because he had worked with GBI and Forsyth County at the time.

Team members from the TV station were in Dawson County approximately 4.5 hours. They interviewed Branson and visited Dawson Forest.

This isnt the first time this case has been reopened, Wooten said. Forsyth County opened it a while back and tried.

The series is expected to air on 11 Alive on Feb. 16- 20, according to a station manager.

Check later at dawsonadvertiser.com for showing time.