Georgia Man Charged With Malice Murder in Missing Woman's Death

Loron Spaulding was already a named person of interest when investigators were still searching for Diaja Benson alive. The Dawson County Sheriff's Office had put his face on a public flyer alongside hers weeks before anyone found her body. By the time responders discovered her remains in a wooded lot in Cumming, Georgia, investigators appear to have known exactly who they were looking for. On April 2, U.S. Marshals tracked Spaulding to New Jersey and arrested him on a malice murder charge.

Benson, 30, of Dawsonville, left her home in Dawson County on February 14, 2026. Six days passed before the Dawson County Sheriff's Office formally recorded her as missing on February 20. At that point, she was last known to be driving a gray 2013 Kia Forte with Georgia tag SMX0023, though investigators later noted she was no longer traveling in that vehicle. Authorities simultaneously identified Spaulding, 35, of Gainesville, as someone Benson may have been with, issuing a public flyer with both names and photographs. A reported sighting placed her in Atlanta on February 24, ten days after she left home, but she remained listed as missing.

On March 13 at approximately 11:00 a.m., responders found the body of a woman in a wooded area near the intersection of Lanier 400 Parkway and Bald Ridge Road in Cumming, adjacent to a field of power lines. The woman was later identified as Benson. The Cumming Police Department posted to social media that there was "no danger to the public" while describing an ongoing multi-agency investigation. That investigation drew in the GBI, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, the Dawson County Sheriff's Office, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, all working at the request of Cumming Police.

Three weeks after the body was found, the GBI announced Spaulding's arrest on April 2. He is currently detained in New Jersey and awaiting extradition to Georgia, where he will be booked into the Forsyth County Jail. Reports from WSB-TV indicate he will face malice murder and other charges, suggesting additional counts beyond the single charge named in the GBI press release. Authorities have not disclosed a cause of death, a motive, or the specific nature of the relationship between Spaulding and Benson.

In Georgia, malice murder is a life-or-death felony that signals prosecutors believe the killing was intentional. Once extradition is complete, the case will move to the Bell-Forsyth Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office for prosecution.

Dawson County Sheriff Jeff Johnson addressed the arrest publicly: "Another tragic loss in our community reminds us just how fragile life is. I'm proud of the hard work our deputies put in as they worked to find Diaja and bring her killer to justice."

The GBI is still seeking tips. Anyone with information can call the Regional Investigative Office in Cleveland, Georgia at (706) 348-4866, submit anonymously at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477) or through gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or use the See Something, Send Something mobile app.