Friend Gets Life After 7-Year Search for Morgan Bauer

A New Start Became a Seven-Year Search

Morgan Bauer had been in metro Atlanta only about two weeks when the 19-year-old disappeared in February 2016, beginning a seven-year search that eventually led investigators to her remains. Katelyn Goble, a woman Bauer had newly befriended, has now been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for her murder.

A Newton County jury found Goble guilty Aug. 31 of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, concealing a death and tampering with evidence, according to Atlanta News First. The judge imposed the life-without-parole sentence the next day.

Bauer had moved from South Dakota to Georgia at 19, looking to start a new life. Atlanta News First reported she was last seen near a park in Porterdale before she disappeared in February 2016. Her disappearance left her family searching for answers long after the first weeks of the case passed.

Investigators Found Bauer’s Remains in 2023

The case remained unresolved for years. In 2023, investigators with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and local agencies recovered Bauer’s remains in Newton County and made arrests connected to her death.

Prosecutors said Goble and her then-boyfriend, Jonathan Alexander Warren, had befriended Bauer before she was killed. The prosecution presented evidence about what happened inside the Porterdale home and how Bauer’s remains were concealed afterward.

Some of the trial evidence was graphic. Those details are not necessary to understand the legal outcome: Bauer was killed, her remains were hidden, and two people have now been convicted in connection with her death.

A Second Defendant Had Already Received Life

Warren pleaded guilty in 2024 to charges that included malice murder and was sentenced to life in prison, according to Atlanta News First and WSB-TV. His case was resolved before Goble went to trial.

At Goble’s trial, the defense argued that Warren carried out the killing and that Goble had stayed silent because she feared him. The jury rejected the defense position and returned guilty verdicts on all counts after a short deliberation, WSB-TV reported.

The convictions establish Goble’s criminal responsibility. Her sentencing means both defendants identified in the prosecution are now serving life terms.

Bauer’s Family Spoke Before Sentencing

Members of Bauer’s family addressed the court before the sentence was imposed. WSB-TV reported that her mother asked the judge for the maximum punishment.

Their statements came more than a decade after Bauer left South Dakota and more than seven years after her disappearance began. The sentencing could not return the years the family spent without knowing where she was.

New Evidence Revived the Search in 2023

Atlanta News First reported that search efforts intensified again in July 2023 after investigators developed new evidence pointing to a Newton County property. Authorities searched a home near the Yellow River, and Bauer’s remains were found in Porterdale later that year.

Goble was arrested in Illinois, while Warren was arrested in California. Both were later indicted in Newton County. Warren resolved his case first and is serving life without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to malice murder and other charges.

Goble chose a jury trial. WSB-TV reported that jurors deliberated for about 30 minutes before finding her guilty on all counts, and Bauer’s relatives delivered victim-impact statements before the judge imposed the life-without-parole sentence.

It did provide a final trial-court judgment against Goble. Any further changes to the case would come through the appeals process or other post-conviction proceedings.

For Bauer’s family, the legal resolution follows a search that lasted through years of uncertainty and ended only after investigators found her remains and reopened the path to prosecution.

References: Woman convicted in murder of Morgan Bauer sentenced to life in prison | Judge sentences woman who killed friend, dismembered body

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