The death of a former Georgia college basketball coach is treated as a homicide

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta police are treating the death of a former head basketball coach at two Georgia universities as a homicide after his body was found in the city shortly after his family reported him missing.

The body of Sammy Jackson, a former men's coach at Fort Valley State University and Savannah State University, was located Wednesday in a wooded area in northwest Atlanta with apparent gunshot wounds, according to the Atlanta Police Department, news outlets reported.

Jackson’s family reported him missing to the Peach County sheriff’s office in central Georgia. His wife told investigators that she last heard from him late Sunday when he was about to start working for a food delivery service, according to an incident report. Atlanta police said Jackson was a rideshare driver.

Authorities found his abandoned car Monday in Houston County, which is roughly 110 miles (177 kilometers) south of Atlanta.

Atlanta police said in a news release Friday that a man who ordered a ride in Houston County before Jackson's disappearance has been identified and is a person of interest in the case. The man was in the Houston County Jail on an unrelated robbery charge, the release says.

Jackson was head men’s basketball coach at Fort Valley State from 2011-2018 and Savannah State from 1999-2000. He also held assistant roles at the University of Alabama, Georgia Southern University, Alabama A&M University and Tennessee State University, according to a 2011 release from Fort Valley State.

Social media posts this week were posted by people who knew Jackson and recalled him as a kind man who helped others.

“I think everybody would like some answers and wants justice for Sammy,” said Kareem Kenney, a former assistant coach under Jackson.