Georgia man arrested for 2008 cold case murder of victim found by creek

A Georgia man was arrested for the 2008 killing of another man whose body was discovered at a creek in the Peach State, according to officials.

Shannon Tapley, 43, of Cartersville, was charged with murdering Lance Jay Banister, 20, of Acworth, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. 

Banister’s body was found 15 years ago at Talking Rock Creek. Tapley was booked into the Bartow County Jail.

The Murray County Sheriff’s Office had requested the GBI assist in the investigation after a body was discovered by Talking Rock Creek and Carters Lake in Chatsworth on March 28, 2008. The victim was later identified as Banister.

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According to investigators, Banister had been missing for three weeks before his body was found. 

Banister and Tapley were friends and had been together on the day of the victim’s disappearance.

The GBI Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Banister’s death a homicide.

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The Bartow County District Attorney’s Office will be prosecuting the case.

The GBI, the Murray County Sheriff’s Office, the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office and FBI special agents from the Dalton Safe Streets Task Force assisted in the investigation.