She was strangled, her body was dismembered, parts of it were burned in the backyard of a home in Porterdale, Georgia, and no one knew the truth until 7 years after she disappeared. 19-year-old Morgan Bauer moved from South Dakota to Georgia on February 12th, 2016. She had just $20, a few bags, and a place to stay arranged through Craigslist.
By the very next day, after an argument, she was kicked out. She moved into a motel with no job. Not long after, she started working as a dancer at the top of Gainesville Club. On February 25th, after her shift, she left with Jonathan Warren and Caitlyn Goel. They claimed they drove her to Covington and dropped her off near a Citgo gas station where she got into a green Mitsubishi Eclipse with an unknown man.
After that, Morgan disappeared. Her phone went silent. Her social media did, too. Police didn’t see signs of a crime at first, and the investigation moved slowly. But, her phone data told a different story. The last signal came from Porterdale, just 3 miles from Covington, near a house where Jonathan had previously lived.
On February 26th, Morgan posted a video from Yellow River Park, less than a mile from that house. That changed the timeline, and it didn’t match their story. On July 27th, 2023, the FBI searched that area. They found Morgan’s remains. The case was officially ruled a homicide. Jonathan was arrested in Los Angeles.
Caitlyn was taken into custody in Illinois. Both were held without bail. Jonathan pleaded guilty to malice murder, destruction of evidence, concealing a death, and necrophilia. Prosecutors said Morgan was strangled, dismembered, and burned. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Caitlyn is still awaiting trial.
7 years of silence ended with bones in the ground. But what actually happened that night is still not fully known. To understand it, we have to go back to the beginning. Morgan was 19. She was fearless and she wanted a new life. On her wrist, she had a tattoo, “Whatever you love can be taken away, so live like it’s your dying day.
” She just wanted to live in a city. Guys, real quick, I’m going to take just a moment here. I’m really curious where my audience is watching from, so let me know your city and what time it is for you right now. Thanks for taking a second, drop it in the comments and I’ll keep going. Morgan had just $20 given to her by a friend and a few bags when she left her hometown of Aberdeen, South Dakota and boarded a flight to Atlanta, more than a thousand miles from home.
She was chasing something new, a different life, new opportunities. Atlanta is a big, fast-moving city in the Southern United States. Modern skyscrapers rise alongside quiet streets and green neighborhoods. It’s a place that’s always moving forward, often called a city of opportunity and that’s exactly where Morgan decided to start over.
Her mom, Sherry, gave her a penny and told her to keep it in her pocket for protection. She knew her daughter had arranged to stay with someone she met on Craigslist. Morgan didn’t have a job yet. She planned to find one once she got there. The agreement was simple. She would help around the house until she could contribute financially.
But almost as soon as she started unpacking, things went wrong. Just one day later, after a conflict, she was kicked out, her belongings left outside. She checked into a motel determined not to go back home. It had only been a day, but she was set on holding on and proving she could make it on her own.
She was waiting on a tax refund and hoping it would help her get through. Morgan had experience working as a waitress and applied for several jobs, but without the necessary documents, she couldn’t get hired. Eventually, she started working as a dancer at the Top of Gainesville club in Hall County about 50 miles north of Atlanta.
On February 25th, Morgan finished her shift and left with another dancer and her boyfriend. And just when it seemed like things might finally be falling into place, two weeks after she moved, she disappeared. Her social media suddenly went quiet. No one was getting replies to messages and her best friend, someone she spoke to almost every day, hadn’t heard from her.
Her phone was either dead or turned off. Her mother later said Morgan always stayed in touch. Even when she was busy, even when she worked late, she would text, she would call. That was just who she was. She didn’t disappear without warning. So, the fact that she completely vanished from every form of communication, that wasn’t like her at all.
No messages, no calls, no sign of activity. For her mother, that was the first real warning sign. Not just a pause, but a complete sudden silence that didn’t match her daughter’s personality. And honestly, that’s what made it even more disturbing. Because when someone with plans, dreams, and constant contact suddenly disappears without a trace, it’s rarely an accident.
I didn’t want her to go to Atlanta. It really worried me. But, Morgan does everything 100%. She’s the kind of person who goes all in. Atlanta police said that at the time they did not suspect any signs of a violent crime. Their initial statements were cautious. Investigators emphasized they had no evidence of force or a struggle. Yes, she was independent.
Yes, she was constantly busy trying to build a life, working, meeting different people. From the outside, her disappearance could have looked like a sudden decision to leave or change direction. But this kind of complete silence, it wasn’t normal. Something wasn’t right. She wasn’t contacting her family. She wasn’t responding to messages.
She wasn’t showing up online. For someone who stayed in touch and was socially active, this felt completely out of character. And with each passing day, the concern kept growing. Did she cross paths with someone dangerous at one of the clubs where she worked? Or maybe something happened at one of the motels? There were so many questions.
Every possibility was checked. Every lead was analyzed, but no clear answers came. Thousands of people began sharing Morgan’s story across social media. Strangers posted her photos, wrote messages of support, trying to keep attention on the case. A Facebook group called Missing Morgan grew to over 13,000 members.
It became a community built on hope and waiting. People shared theories, updates, and stood by the family. But even with all that attention, the answer stayed out of reach. The silence continued, and the longer it lasted, the less it felt like a coincidence. Exclusive new details in the search for a missing South Dakota teenager, last seen in metro Atlanta.
19-year-old Morgan Bauer vanished more than a month ago. Tonight, we’ve learned a big-name private investigator is on the case. Just hours ago, he spoke with CBS 46 investigative reporter Karen Greer. We just keep going and keep praying that she’ll be found sooner than later. The family of 19-year-old Morgan Bauer has set up temporary residence at a cheap motel in Atlanta, coming here last month from South Dakota, her mother Sherry is pulling out all the stops to find her.
These donated billboards show the small town teen’s innocence. Photos online from the Gainesville strip club where she was last seen publicly tell a much different story of a teenager looking for a new life in the big city. Private investigator TJ Ward, perhaps well known for his work in the case of missing high school student Natalie Holloway in Aruba, now hired to help find Morgan.
There’s a lot of Facebook activity, whether it’s her or friends or friends that know where she is. But, um there’s things that’s changed as late as last night on her Facebook and we’re looking into that right now. The page Ward is referring to is not Morgan’s personal page, which hasn’t been updated since she disappeared, but rather a public site with thousands of people posting comments and alleged sightings.
Morgan was last seen and on social media February 25th. There was a lot of pressure on her and in this day and time kids, when they get pressure, they run. And uh they think the grass is greener on the other side, which it isn’t. And uh a short-term fix of making money is not the answer. This is Top of Gainesville.
She came to work here that night and left and has not been heard from since. That same night. The latest Facebook posts have sightings of Morgan in the Canton and Woodstock area. Ward is checking into it and adds nothing can be assumed. This is a serious criminal investigation and uh the city of Atlanta homicide unit is is responsible for this and uh these people online need to be very serious about what has gone on.
This is not a joke. Ward says social media may be a blessing or curse in this case with so many postings and so many people claiming to have seen Morgan, it keeps them busy. But, they have to check into every lead because you never know which one will help them solve this case. Like with everything on the internet, the good comes with the bad rumors and cruel comments.
Sherry had to remind people to be kinder. She said, “This is not a story about a girl who asked for it or should have known better. This is about a girl who disappeared and deserves to come home safely. None of that matters. She means everything and she is deeply loved. We want the focus to stay only on Morgan and finding her.
” From everything police knew, February 25th, 2016 became the critical day. That’s where the reconstruction of events began. Everything that happened after she left the club mattered. Every minute of that evening and night was examined closely. Further analysis of her phone and social media data gave investigators a new direction.
They traced signal routes, checked tower connections, and matched timestamps. And that’s when they discovered something important. The last signal from her phone was recorded in Porterdale, nearly 80 miles from the top of Gainesville Club. That’s a serious distance. Not a few blocks, not a nearby area, nearly 80 miles, about an hour and a half drive.
And the data was too precise to be random. So, why was she there? Did she go willingly? Was she with someone? That became the key question. Because if her phone was in Porterdale, then her path that night was completely different from what investigators originally believed. And this is where the case began to shift.
At that point, it was known that Morgan had left the club with two people, Jonathan Warren and Caitlyn GoWell. They were the last ones seen with her. That became the starting point for investigators. Caitlyn and Jonathan said they dropped her off near a Sitgo gas station in Covington.
According to them, they never saw her again after that. Surveillance cameras didn’t provide clear answers and no additional witnesses were found. Her trail just stopped. The investigation was extensive. Detectives interviewed witnesses, checked phone records, reviewed surveillance footage, and analyzed digital data, but progress was slow.
Information didn’t line up and a clear picture just wasn’t forming. The person she met on Craigslist was also checked early on, but the FBI never named that individual as a suspect and that lead didn’t become the focus. Months went by and there were almost no new answers. Leads were rare and when they did appear, they quickly led nowhere.
A year passed and the case, which started as an active search, slowly turned into a long, exhausting wait. Month marks 3 and 1/2 years since a woman moved from South Dakota to Atlanta and then suddenly disappeared. She hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Today, Morgan Bauer’s mother came to downtown Atlanta to let people know about her daughter’s case.
At a community event in downtown Atlanta, This is my daughter, Morgan. She’s been missing in Atlanta for 3 and 1/2 years. Sherri Keenan is handing out photos and missing persons flyers today of her daughter, Morgan Bauer. And there isn’t a lot of information out there.
Morgan is a cold case, but an active cold case with the Atlanta Police Department. Keenan remains hopeful her daughter is somewhere in town or elsewhere and is safe. We hope that somehow she sees this on the news and she knows that we’re still searching for her and we’ll never stop looking. Atlanta police still have Bauer’s case listed online, but new leads are needed.
Morgan is described as having her ears gauged, lips pierced twice, and has several tattoos. Keenan says a $10,000 reward is being offered in her daughter’s case. Anybody who knows anything or has seen anything, please, just reach out. It just takes one moment. Atlanta, I’m Joe Henke. 11 Alive News. 7 years had passed since anyone last heard from Morgan.
7 years of silence, uncertainty, and exhausting waiting. Over that time, circumstances changed, people moved, theories came and went. But, the one question that mattered most still had no answer. Seven years is long enough for a case to start fading from public attention. But, for her family, this was never just a file or a statistic.
It was thousands of days without news, without explanations, without closure. And something had to change the course of the investigation. A new lead, a new piece of evidence. One fact that could finally break the dead end. Because without it, the case risked becoming just another unsolved story full of questions no one could answer.
Now, before now, police believed that Morgan went missing 7 years ago tomorrow on February 25th, but our 11 Alive investigators have discovered a discrepancy that could shift On February 26th, Morgan posted a video on social media from a park in Porterdale Yellow River Park. At first glance, it looked completely ordinary.
Just a few seconds of silence, nature, calm surroundings. But, that video wouldn’t come to light until years later. And when it did, it changed everything. For 7 years, it was believed that Morgan disappeared on February 25th. That date became the starting point for her family, her friends, and investigators.
But, if the video was posted on the 26th, it meant she was alive at least 1 day longer than anyone thought. And that completely changed the timeline. When investigators analyzed the video, they noticed something they hadn’t seen before. A man walking behind her. Just for a moment. No clear face, no identifiable features.
Who he was remains unknown. A random passerby, or maybe not. And that small detail combined with the phone data led investigators back to two people they had already questioned. Morgan’s phone last pinged in Porterdale, an area that hadn’t originally been considered central to the case. And now that matched the location in the video.
One thing was already known. That night she left the club with Jonathan Warren and Caitlin Goel. They were the last people to see her. They stuck to the same story. That they drove her 77 miles to Covington and dropped her off near a Citgo gas station. After that, they said she got into a green Mitsubishi Eclipse with an unknown man.
It sounded plausible, but there was a problem. Investigators already knew the last signal from her phone came from Porterdale, just 3 miles from Covington, right near a house where Jonathan had previously lived. And the video from Yellow River Park was filmed less than a mile from that house. That didn’t line up.
If she was dropped off at a gas station, how did she end up in Porterdale the next day? The facts directly contradicted their version. And at that moment, the investigation began to shift. Investigators started to believe that all three of them went to Porterdale together and eventually ended up at Jonathan’s house. That version made far more sense.
Even though he had already moved to Los Angeles, that house needed to be searched. That’s where the answers could be. Jonathan and Caitlin had been persons of interest from the very beginning. But now investigators finally had enough for a warrant. Technical evidence, the phone data, and the video became the turning point that moved the case from speculation to action.
And 7 years after Morgan disappeared, the FBI went back there. To a house that now belonged to someone else. And the silence that had lasted for years was finally starting to break. Michael Anthony Walden with the Port Adelaide Police Department. Uh today we’ve executed a search warrant, currently executing search warrant. It’s part of an ongoing investigation into missing person Morgan Bauer at number two South Broad Street.
So far the search has located items of evidentiary intro Forensic teams carefully examined every corner of the house and the surrounding property. The work was slow and methodical. Every room was documented with photographs, every surface checked for any trace of evidence. The specialists moved cautiously, step by step, not overlooking a single detail.
The property required an extensive search. It was a large piece of land with wide open space around it, a yard, outbuildings, more remote sections of the property. Everything had to be checked. The ground itself was examined in sections, piece by piece. What once looked like an ordinary private home suddenly became a potential crime scene.
The scale of the area demanded time, resources, and patience. And because the property had already changed owners, the new residents had no idea what was happening until the FBI showed up. For them, it was just a house, something they had bought without knowing anything about its past.
The arrival of federal agents came as a shock, suddenly exposing a hidden layer of history tied to that place. From that moment on, the space they lived in meant something entirely different. We don’t know if it’s Morgan or if it’s something else that they recovered. They’re not really sharing that information publicly, and of course, Morgan is still considered a missing person.
Morgan’s mother, Sherry, says authorities have kept her in the loop as much as they can. They’ve made it very comfortable for me to be able to feel um very much a part of what’s happening, even though there’s not a lot of information that they can give me. They’ve They’ve been very inclusive. And within the whirlwind of emotions that came from yesterday’s breakthrough is sympathy for the owners of the property who authorities say have been cooperative.
My heart just goes out to that family and they must be going through a lot, you know, also. And it must be very upsetting for them and so my my heart just goes out to to everyone involved. At this point after 7 years, I feel like, you know, in my heart I already kind of know if they found something.
I’m going to do what I said I would. I’m going to go to Atlanta and I’m going to bring my daughter home. For 7 years, Sherry handed out flyers, organized memorials, and spoke to anyone willing to listen. Again and again, she printed photos of her daughter, the same as glad, the same smile frozen in time. She approached strangers, explained the story, asked them to pay attention, to not look away.
These memorials became more than just a way to remember. They were a reminder that the search was still ongoing. Candles, flowers, short speeches, and a constant hope that someone somewhere might remember something important. Each year added more weight, but it never took away her determination. She spoke with journalists, neighbors, volunteers, even random people passing by, repeating the same facts over and over again.
For her, this wasn’t just a responsibility, it was a way to keep Morgan present in a world that was slowly learning to live without her. “I’m not ready to say goodbye until she’s found,” she said. But unfortunately, this is where the missing person case turned into a murder investigation.
Up until that point, there was still a fragile hope that there could be another explanation. That maybe she had left on her own, that there would be a message, a sign, any proof that she was still alive. But after what was found, everything changed, completely and permanently. Her remains were discovered on the property. This wasn’t just another detail in the investigation, it was confirmation of her death.
The place that had once been part of the search suddenly became a crime scene. Every inch of ground was now treated as potential evidence. Experts worked in silence, focused, documenting every small detail. At that moment, any uncertainty about her fate disappeared. What remained were only questions: how, when, and why.
And from that point on, it was no longer a search. It was a homicide investigation. Breaking news at 9:00, we just learned two people arrested in connection to a metro Atlanta cold case from 7 years ago. Well, Tori, we’ve been reporting on this since a little over a week ago, and this is a major break in a case that her loved ones feared Within a few weeks, two people were taken into custody.
The arrests happened separately in different states. 33-year-old Jonathan Alexander Warren was arrested in Los Angeles. 27-year-old Caitlin Goel was taken into custody in Illinois. The distance between those two locations only highlighted the scale of the investigation up to that point. And when they were arrested, the case finally had real faces and real names.
Both were held without bail. The court determined the risks were too high to allow them to wait for further proceedings on the outside. They remained in custody with limited contact with a world that already knew the details of the charges against them. Caitlin admitted she had been in the house.
She didn’t deny being there, but she claimed that when she went into the bedroom, she found Morgan’s body. According to her, she was cold and not breathing. The statement sounded simple, almost stripped of emotion. She insisted she had only found her. But investigators evaluated those words against other evidence and the established sequence of events.
In August 2023, Jonathan was formally charged with malice, murder, aggravated assault, concealing a death, and destroying evidence. The list of charges reflected the seriousness of the case. Each count represented a separate legal element that prosecutors intended to prove in court.
Caitlyn was charged with concealing a death and destroying evidence. At that stage, those charges formed the basis of her status. The investigation was still ongoing and further decisions depended on additional questioning, evidence, and the conclusions reached by investigators. Last night we first reported that the two suspects in the 2016 disappearance of Morgan Bauer are facing new charges in that investigation.
Jonathan Warren and Caitlyn Gobel are both facing murder and aggravated assault charges. After additional questioning and a grand jury decision, just 2 months later, both of them were formally charged with murder. The investigation remained intense. Detectives kept going back over reports, comparing statements, analyzing every detail again and again.
The grand jury’s decision became a turning point confirmation that there was enough evidence to move forward with full charges. From that moment, the case entered a different phase, more serious, more unforgiving. Jonathan was also charged with an additional crime, necrophilia. It was a separate and especially disturbing element of the case, pointing to what investigators believed happened after Morgan’s death.
The wording in the documents was clinical, but the reality behind it was deeply unsettling. Caitlyn was charged on multiple counts, malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, destruction of evidence, and concealing a death. The list was long and it reflected the scale of the case. Each charge represented a separate level of responsibility that prosecutors would have to prove in court.
Prosecutors did not believe her version of events that she had simply found Morgan already dead. In their view, her story didn’t match the evidence or the established timeline. They pointed to inconsistencies that, in their assessment, suggested active involvement, not just accidental presence. After his arrest, Jonathan told investigators that Kaitlin had an interest in forensic pathology and allegedly wanted to kill someone to dismember a body.
Those statements became part of the case file and were later used by prosecutors to suggest a possible motive. At the same time, those were statements made by a co-defendant and they would ultimately have to be evaluated by the court, taking all circumstances into account. A quiet river I just can’t even believe I’m saying 7 years.
A yellow river park, painful. It’s been difficult. Is the last place Morgan Bowers’ phone pinged. There are times where I do feel alone just because I you It’s hard for anybody to understand what this feels like. But tonight, Sherry Keenan isn’t alone. And we just pray that These people joined in hand and spirit to remember Morgan at a vigil.
And I hope that it connects to somebody. I just am trying to just be really here, um, humbly. And just laying prayers. I’m so grateful that you all took time out to be here today. She’s been waiting to find her daughter for 7 years. Thank you. Never giving up hope of a happy ending. And I think just that collective moment of everybody just making the same wish or the same prayer or the same thought in the same intention, you know, can can create miracles.
Jonathan entered a plea deal without a predetermined sentence and pleaded guilty to malice murder, destruction of evidence, concealing a death, and necrophilia. That meant he received no guarantees about his sentence. He essentially placed his fate in the hands of the court, admitting to the most serious charges against him.
What had once been accusations was now confirmed in court. As part of the agreement, the charges of felony murder and aggravated assault were dropped. Some counts were removed, but it didn’t change the overall picture. The severity of the crimes remained clear. During the hearings, prosecutors revealed details that were especially difficult to hear.
According to them, Morgan was strangled. Then, her body was dismembered and burned. Each of those statements added another layer of horror. Prosecutors also stated that Jonathan committed sexual acts on the remains over several days. It became one of the most shocking elements of the case. During questioning, he also claimed that he and Caitlyn had consumed parts of the body.
That detail went far beyond anything most people could comprehend. At the same time, those claims were never independently confirmed and were not part of his official plea. Prosecutors also attempted to introduce additional materials, including content from Caitlyn’s social media. They pointed to videos and posts that, in their view, could indicate an interest in violence, serial killers, and occult themes.
Some sources mentioned a video where she allegedly held an object resembling a severed head, but those materials were never publicly shown and remained at the level of claims. The prosecution also planned to use her personal writings, along with Jonathan’s statements, to establish a possible motive and build a fuller picture of her behavior.
It was expected that he would testify in court. His testimony could become a key part of the prosecution’s case. However, the judge did not make an immediate decision on whether all of this evidence would be admissible. Some of it could be accepted and some of it could be excluded. The uncertainty remained.
Jonathan asked for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. It was an attempt to leave at least some chance for the future. But given the brutality of the case, the court’s decision could be final. And all of these details only made one thing clear. Just how far this story had gone. Jonathan Alexander Warren was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to his part in the 2016 disappearance of 19-year-old He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The
words were delivered clearly, without emotion, like a dry legal statement. There was no sympathy, no relief, just finality. It meant one thing, he would spend the rest of his life behind bars with no chance of getting out early, no second chance. The door that closed behind him would never open again.
For the family, this was the moment when justice was finally spoken out loud. But justice doesn’t mean healing. A sentence doesn’t erase the pain. It doesn’t turn back time. It only defines responsibility in legal terms. Life without parole is the harshest sentence a court can impose in cases like this.
It’s a signal that what was done is considered so severe that society is no longer willing to take any risk. And even after the sentence, there is still silence because no court decision can bring Morgan back. The Newton County District Attorney said the indictment against Gobel is still pending tonight. Morgan’s case against Caitlyn is still ongoing.
The trial isn’t over and the tension hasn’t eased. Jonathan, according to available information, is cooperating with prosecutors. He plans to testify against her claiming that she was the one obsessed with the idea of killing and dismemberment. Those statements could become key in court, but they could also reshape how each of them is seen.
Inside a courtroom, words like that sound different, colder, harsher. Whether we’ll ever learn the full truth is still unclear. Some cases leave behind more questions than answers. Sometimes the truth gets lost somewhere between versions, deals, and testimony. Both defendants remain in custody. They’re no longer free.
Behind them cameras, guards, locked doors. Sentences are still ahead, but even that won’t bring back what was lost. When Morgan disappeared in February 2016, it was the first sign that something was wrong. Her phone went silent, messages were left unanswered, her social media froze. For those close to her, that silence felt unnatural, disturbing, painful.
But the real silence lasted 7 years. 7 years of uncertainty, waiting, and hope that slowly faded with each passing month. Even now with Jonathan behind bars and Kaitlin awaiting trial, the full answers may never come. And even if the truth is finally spoken, it won’t change anything. Morgan is gone, and that’s the only undeniable fact.
Her dreams, her plans, her future forever frozen at 19. She never got the chance to live the life she had just begun. She wanted change. She wasn’t afraid of the unknown. She kept moving forward leaving everything familiar behind. There was more determination in her than fear. Her stepmother Lea said, “Morgan has now been gone from our lives longer than she was physically in them.
” In those words, years of pain, missed holidays, birthdays, family moments that will never happen again. She added, “Everything that was taken from Morgan was taken from us, too. We’ll never see her grow up, never watch her build her life. Her brothers will never have the chance to have a relationship with her as adults.
This isn’t just the loss of one person, it’s the loss of a future that will never exist. And one more line that hits especially hard, the horrible things we heard during the investigation, that’s all we have left, and no parent should ever have to hear that. Sometimes the truth doesn’t bring relief. Sometimes it becomes another weight.
In the glow of these candles, I see reflections of the light my daughter brought into our lives. She was a bright spark of joy, laughter, and unconditional love. And today, as we hold these candles, let them symbolize the warmth of her soul still shining in our hearts. My daughter’s light may no longer be visible like a flame, but it lives on in the hearts of those who loved her.
Today, let’s honor Morgan’s memory by promising to live with the same kindness, compassion, and joy that she shared so freely with everyone.
