DeKalb Sheriff Working To Confirm I.D. Of Human Skull Found Near Center Hill Lake

DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department still waiting on official confirmation on the identification of a human skull.

Sheriff Patrick Ray said based on preliminary investigations, there is reason to believe the skull belongs to Matthew Wayne Braswell. Ray said the skull was found in the Center Hill Lake area last week.

“We have the dental records that were going to try first and then we’ll back that up with the anthropologist looking at the skull to make the positive I.D. on them also,” Ray said. “We’re hopeful that we’ll hear something back from the dental records pretty quick.”

Ray said Braswell has been missing since December of 2021. Ray said Braswell has been the only active missing person in that area.

Ray said Braswell was last seen when he fled on foot from the scene of a crash on Ponder Road off Cookeville Highway. Ray said he speculates that if the skull belongs to Braswell, he may have died from injuries sustained from the crash or from hypothermia due to the weather conditions of that day.

“Of course, that is all based on speculation at this point,” Ray said.