Aug. 27, 2023 By Mica Thomas
The 18-year-old went out for a night of fun at a club called Wild Bill’s in Duluth, Georgia. He never made it home.
www.nbcnews.com
''Erika said her son was very sociable and made friends easily. “He could walk up to a stranger and hold a conversation for hours,” she said.
Erika told Dateline the bartenders at Wild Bill’s knew Justin and throughout the night, he was captured on the club’s security camera.
That security camera even captured the last moments before Justin’s disappearance.
It was around 1:30 a.m. on Friday, November 2, 2007.
Justin was seen standing outside of the club. Erika told Dateline that according to his phone records, Justin was calling friends to ask for a ride home.''
Erika Wilson with her son, Justin GainesErika Wilson
''Investigators shared their working theory with
11Alive, NBC’s Atlanta affiliate, back in 2019. They believe Justin, who was wearing a diamond earring and flashing cash, caught the wrong person’s attention that night in Wild Bill’s. They believe that Justin may have been offered a ride by a blonde woman and was then taken to a house in Snellville, where he was robbed and shot to death. Then, they think that his body was dumped into Lake Lanier, but floated up a few days later, so the suspects then drove his body to another county to dispose of it in a well. However, the Chief Deputy of the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department told 11Alive that the hard part about all the theories is figuring out: “Are they credible?”
''Investigator Rising told Dateline that the department constantly receives leads regarding Justin’s case. “I’ve got about three now that I feel good about,” he said.''