After nearly 14 years of waiting for answers, the family of Blake Tyler Chappell finally has closure. The 17-year-old from Newnan, Georgia, who vanished after attending his high school homecoming dance in October 2011, was found dead in a creek two months later. Last week, authorities announced that 38-year-old Scotty Elliot Smith had confessed to the murder during multiple interviews with detectives.
Blake disappeared in the early morning hours of October 16, 2011, after leaving his girlfriend’s home on Mary Freeman Road. He was walking to a friend’s house in the Summergrove neighborhood when he went missing. Initially treated as a missing person case, the investigation turned into a homicide when Blake’s body was discovered on December 19, 2011, in a Coweta County creek. He had been shot and killed, found wearing only his underwear.
