Levi Frady: 11-year-old boy’s disappearance, murder still unsolved 28 years later

Written by: A. Smith

Published October 23, 2025 @ 10:11 AM ET

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is renewing its call for information in the 1997 killing of 11-year-old Levi Frady, whose disappearance and death remain one of Georgia’s most haunting unsolved cases.

Frady vanished from Forsyth County on Oct. 22, 1997. His body was found the next day in the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area in neighboring Dawson County. He would be 39 years old today.

According to investigators, Levi’s mother and sister reported him missing after he failed to return home from a friend’s house. He typically rode his bicycle home, but his bike was later found abandoned on Little Mill Road, less than a mile from his home.

The day Levi went missing was also the opening day of rifle season for deer hunting in Dawson Forest. Investigators have not said how the boy was killed or what evidence was recovered from the scene. No one has ever been arrested or charged in the case.

Over the years, law enforcement has released sketches of two unidentified men who were seen in the area around the time Levi disappeared.

One man was spotted walking along Little Mill Road at about 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, 1997. He was described as being in his late 50s at the time, with a scruffy gray beard, faded blue baseball cap, and a stooped posture.

The second man was seen in Dawson Forest and was described as clean-shaven, between 45 and 55 years old, about 6 feet tall with a slim build and white or gray hair. He was reportedly driving a blue, early-1980s Toyota two-wheel-drive pickup with a white camper shell.

Investigators have not said whether the men are suspects or witnesses, only that they may have information vital to the case. It also remains unclear whether authorities believe the person responsible is still alive or in the area.

The GBI says the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, and the agency’s Cleveland Regional Investigative Office continue to actively investigate the case.

Anyone with information about Levi Frady’s death or the identity of the men in the sketches is urged to contact the GBI Cleveland office at 706-348-4866 or the GBI Tip Line at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477).

Levi’s death led to the creation of “Levi’s Call,” Georgia’s version of the national Amber Alert system used to help locate abducted children.