COVINGTON, Ga. — Newton sheriff’s deputies said they found a body inside a vehicle located off I-20 Monday, Sept. 12.

The vehicle has some similarities to one Covington resident Yolanda Brown drove before she went missing recently, a spokesman said.

The body and vehicle were transported to the GBI headquarters in Decatur for an autopsy and thorough investigation of the vehicle, said spokesman Sgt. Jack Redlinger of the Newton County Sheriff's Office.

"This is an active ongoing investigation and Yolanda Brown is still considered missing,” he said.

At about 2:19 p.m., Monday, deputies located a vehicle off the roadway in the woods off I-20 westbound in Newton County, Redlinger said. 

“The vehicle has some similarities as that of Yolanda Brown’s vehicle,” he said.

Police cruisers lined the side of I-20 near the Alcovy Road exit and a TV news helicopter hovered over the area following the discovery.

Brown has been missing since leaving the Irish Bred Pub in Hapeville in the early morning hours of Sept. 3, family members said.

A search for Brown has included sheriff’s deputies and Georgia State Patrol officers using a helicopter Sept. 7; and deputies searching along I-20 at Almon Road on foot Sept. 8 for evidence relating to her disappearance.

Brown, 53, drives a 2020 black Chevy Impala with Georgia tag CUQ6437. She was last seen wearing a black T-shirt dress with the number 10 on it in white, a bracelet, a watch and sneakers, the sheriff’s office said. She wears braces.

WSB-TV reported a surveillance video showed Brown leaving the bar in the early hours of Sept. 3. Family members said the video showed her talking to a man for two hours inside her car before he exits the vehicle, gets into an SUV and follows Brown out of the parking lot.

Brown is described as 5-foot-8, 150 pounds, with black hair, brown or hazel eyes, and braces.

Those with any information regarding Brown are asked to call Newton County Sheriff's Office Investigator Simmons at 678-625-1453.