Woman finally identified after burning bag of body parts found near Alabama-Georgia line in 2007

A bag of human body parts set aflame along the side of a road shocked a Georgia community 16 years ago — the identity of the victim left unknown.

Now, deputies have made a breakthrough in the case, identifying a young woman as the victim found in the bag, according to a Dec. 13 Troup County Sheriff’s Office news release. Deputies have not yet named a suspect in the case.

A call in December 2007 to a street corner, which is currently located near a Troup County Fire Department station, led deputies to a “suspicious black bag that appeared to be burning,” the sheriff’s office said. After looking into the smoking bag, deputies said they saw what seemed to be human remains.

The remains in the bag were partial, deputies said, as the hands, feet and head were missing.

Deputies at the time didn’t come to many conclusions about the burning bag, the sheriff’s office said. All that was determined was that it was the result of an “obvious homicide” and the body was an adult Black woman, deputies said.

The case ran cold for more than a decade, until the Troup County Sheriff’s Office received some news that helped advance its investigation.

While reviewing other cold cases in the area, the sheriff’s office sent DNA — including from the burning bag — to forensics labs in Virginia and Texas, deputies said. After comparing data with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Troup County deputies said they were notified that there was a positive DNA match to identify the remains found in 2007.

The body was identified as 24-year-old Nicole Alston, who had recently moved to the Atlanta area from New York City, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies contacted Alston’s family, who informed investigators that the woman moved to the area in 2006 but they did not hear from her again.

Now that deputies have confirmed whose body was found in the bag, the sheriff’s office said it will continue its investigation into the suspected homicide. Anyone with information on Alston’s case should call Troup County investigators at 706-883-1616 or Crime Stoppers at 706-812-1000.

Troup County is near the Alabama-Georgia border in the middle of the state and is about 65 miles southwest of Atlanta.