WORTH COUNTY, GA --
A homicide case gone cold has been officially reopened after 24 years.

Worth County Sheriff Freddie Tompkins says he was contacted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations a few months ago after they wanted to exhume the body of a black male that was found off of Highway 300 in 1988.

Sheriff Tompkins says he received a call on September 6th, 1988 from a bank saying a man reported he found a body nearby. When investigators arrived on the scene, they found the dismembered body of a black male.

Sheriff Tompkins said throughout the years tips have come in -- they even thought they had it solved once -- but in the end they never matched up.

The body ended up being buried and the case went cold.

After recent advancements in DNA testing, the GBI decided to reopen this case and see if they could identify the man. Last Friday, officials exhumed the body and sent DNA samples to the lab for testing.

Sheriff Tompkins says they're hoping they will be able to finally identify the victim and possibly bring some closure to the family as well as develop a new trail that could lead to the suspect.

For now, officials must wait until the results come back for the crime lab before they can start where they once left off.