Relatives traced Shanteria Mosley’s phone to an apartment complex and continued searching after an initial police response produced no sign of her.
SMYRNA, Ga. — New court testimony has provided a more detailed timeline of the hours Shanteria “Tia” Mosley’s family spent trying to find her, from tracking her phone to a Smyrna apartment complex to the discovery that turned a missing-person search into a murder investigation.
The chronology emerged during an Oct. 23 hearing for Kingston Bradley, 18, who is charged with malice murder and concealing the death of another person. A Cobb County judge denied Bradley bond after hearing testimony from Smyrna police Detective Nathaniel Wachowiak about the Sept. 23 investigation. The testimony also clarified what officers knew during their first response, what Mosley’s relatives did after police left and what investigators say they later found inside the apartment.
Relatives became concerned after they could no longer reach Mosley on Sept. 23. Her family used location information from her phone to trace it to the Park Valley Apartments in Smyrna, where they also located the rental car she had been driving. Mosley’s mother called police shortly before 7 p.m., beginning an initial response centered on a missing-person report.
According to police records and later court testimony, a Smyrna officer tried to locate Mosley by checking near the location where the phone was believed to be and speaking with residents. The officer was allowed to briefly look inside two nearby apartments but did not find Mosley or her phone. After roughly 30 minutes, the officer left and advised the family about filing a missing-person report with Atlanta police because Mosley had last been seen in Atlanta.
Mosley’s relatives stayed at the apartment complex and continued searching. Police were called back at about 8:15 p.m. after a witness reported seeing a person with a large container. Authorities subsequently found part of Mosley’s remains in a plastic storage tub. Investigators later recovered additional remains from trash bags inside the trunk of the rental car she had been driving.
The later investigation led detectives to Bradley’s apartment. Wachowiak testified that police found blood in several areas, along with a power saw, a handsaw with apparent blood on it and multiple cleaning items. Officers also noticed a strong bleach odor. The detective said investigators recovered evidence suggesting trash bags and bleach had been ordered through Bradley’s DoorDash account earlier that day.
Investigators now believe Bradley and Mosley first communicated the morning she disappeared. Wachowiak testified that Bradley obtained her phone number through an online escort advertisement and that investigators have found no evidence the two knew each other before Sept. 23. Mosley’s rental car was recorded arriving at the complex that morning, according to the detective.
The hearing also introduced digital evidence that had not been publicly detailed during the family’s initial search. Wachowiak testified that investigators recovered a photograph from Bradley’s phone showing Mosley’s remains in his bedroom later that afternoon. Police also found an unloaded handgun beneath a dresser in the apartment. Investigators were still awaiting laboratory results on DNA, fingerprints and other evidence at the time of the hearing.
Questions about other people who may have had information have remained part of the investigation. Bradley lived at the apartment with his father, Kenneth Bradley, who has not been charged in Mosley’s death. Wachowiak testified that the father spoke with investigators after his son’s arrest. Evidence was also recovered from a pickup truck associated with the father, but authorities have not accused him of participating in the killing.
The case has drawn scrutiny in part because Mosley’s relatives were the people who continued searching after the first officer left the complex. The initial officer did not have evidence at that point establishing that Mosley was inside a particular apartment or that a violent crime had occurred. The discovery reported later that evening gave police new information and led to a broader search of the property and surrounding evidence.
Bradley remains held in the Cobb County jail after the judge denied bond Friday. Smyrna police say the case is still active, while prosecutors continue preparing the murder case and investigators await additional forensic results. The court proceedings are expected to move into Cobb County Superior Court.
Author note: Last updated October 24, 2026.