Family, Friends Search for Missing MGSC Student

COCHRAN, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Family, friends and church members of a missing Middle Georgia State College student canvassed the Cochran campus and community passing out flyers.

19-year-old Jmaal Keyes has been missing for nearly two weeks now. Police say he left his dorm on April 25 and never came back. Now his family is pleading for a safe return.

“We love him and we just want him to come home and whatever he did, we forgive him and we just want him to come home,” said Jalisa Keyes, Jmaal’s sister.

On Tuesday, church members from Destiny World Church in Austell and New Life Church of God in Cochran, joined forces searching for information leading to Keyes whereabouts. Middle Georgia State College Police Chief Shawn Douglas said Keyes doesn’t own a car and his cell phone is disconnected. He said the student had no prior history of behavior or mental health problems. Officials said Keyes did not have a bank account and everything in his dorm is intact.

As word of the missing student spreads, so does worry across the small campus.

“From what we’ve seen students are on edge,” Douglas said, “and there’s nothing to indicate that anything occurred on campus.”

The school’s police along with the Cochran Police Department, Bleckley County’s Sheriff’ Office, Georgia State Patrol and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are all working the case. Law enforcement has been door-to-door searching on land and in air using the Georgia State Patrol Aviation unit in hopes to find Keyes, but so far no luck.

The search continued into the community near Peter Street and Limestone Road in East Cochran. Officials believe Keyes may have been in the area sometime after he left campus. Family members received a lot of tips, information and leads but nothing concrete about where Keyes was last seen.

The church is offering a $3,000 reward in any information leading to his return. Anyone with information is urged to call the MGSC Police Department at (478)-934-3002.