Georgia Man Charged in Murder of Former Riverhead Councilman, Police Officer: Police

RIVERHEAD, NY — A Georgia man has been charged with murder days after the remains of missing Riverhead Town Councilman and police officer Timothy Francis Buckley were found in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, police said.

According to a report in myrtlebeachonline, Horry County Police Department detectives charged Johnathan Lamar Hillary, 29, of Augusta, GA, with murder and possession of a weapon "during the commission of a violent crime" in Buckley's death.

The report also states that Bernithia Young, 33, of Atlanta, Georgia, "was charged with accessory after the fact to a felony, specifically listed as murder."

The post added that Buckley, 51, was reported missing on Sept. 30, after he was last seen heading to his camper near the Springmaid Resort on Sept. 28.

According to an earlier post in Myrtlebeachonline, Buckley's remains were found in a wooded area off Rodeo Drive, a police report said.

Buckley, police said in the article, was identified through "dental records and jewelry, and his manner of death is believed to be a homicide."

Buckley had been living in Myrtle Beach after moving from Riverhead.

It was a tragic ending for Buckley's heartbroken family: His daughter Kaitlin, 19, desperately seeking help to find her father, created a GoFundMe page, "Reward for Info on Tim Buckley", trying to find answers.

Kaitlin, the oldest of three girls, said she, her parents and her sisters lived on Long Island before moving to Myrtle Beach in 2011.

"About three weeks ago, the man that is my world, my father, went missing," she wrote on the page in October.

"My dad's name is Tim Buckley, he is a retired police officer, ex-military, always very involved and such a funny and incredibly kind person who loved his friends and family so very much. This behavior is so very unlike him and we've almost come to a dead end," she said.She added that while the Myrtle Beach and Horry County Police Departments were doing everything they possibly can "to bring my daddy home."

"My dad would do anything for anyone, especially his little girls," she said.

Photo courtesy of GoFundMe.