Georgia authorities on Saturday may have found the remains of a man missing a year.

Laurens County Sheriff Larry Dean said a deer hunter late Friday found a vehicle registered to Don Hightower off a highway between East Dublin and Wrightsville.

Deputies from Laurens and Johnson counties, as well as investigators from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and volunteers, began a grid search early Saturday, Dean said. They found human remains that were taken to the GBI Crime Lab for identification.

Dean said deputies are still investigating.

Hightower lived in neighboring Johnson County and went missing on Oct. 30, 2021, after spending part of the day watching football with his family. WGXA-TV reports. Hightower left his son’s house and drove to his sister’s house. Hightower then left for his nearby home after saying he felt tired. He never called his sister to report arriving home.

Relatives told WGXA-TV that Hightower had felt poorly in days before he went missing, but had improved after being taken for medical tests. Family members complained in the spring that authorities weren’t doing enough to look for Hightower. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in turn blamed GBI for a lack of assistance, while GBI defended its performance.