PERRY, Ga. — It’s a place you often hear about, but have probably never been to.
When evidence is collected from a major crime scene in Central Georgia, there’s a good chance it will end up at the GBI Region 13 Evidence Lab at some point.
13WMAZ reporter Zach Merchant was the first reporter ever allowed inside for a tour.
“We have an office and then we have a crime scene bay, or lab, whatever you want to call it,” said GBI Crime Scene Specialist Lee Weathersby.
It looks like something out of a college chemistry lab with the science to match, even if Weathersby is wary of taking much credit.
“I do believe most people don’t know what we do, and that’s fine,” he said.
The Region 13 lab has the tools to handle a wide variety of evidence types and over his career, Weathersby has seen his share.
He says each GBI Lab tends to have certain specialties, but at Region 13, theirs is fingerprinting.
They have a machine that uses superglue to make prints more visible and a special magnetic brush for surfaces that don’t usually hold prints well.
“You can clean up the print better and it also works really good on certain substances. I use it a lot on Styrofoam cups, paper cups,” said Weathersby.
Most evidence ends up at their lab and the hours can be long and unpredictable. He says he processes evidence alone in the lab a lot, but the feeling of finding a print that will put the right person behind bars makes it all worthwhile.
He says the lab has about 1,000 pieces of evidence in it right now. Many are from current cases. Others, he says, are from old unsolved cases waiting for the next technological advancement to give them a breakthrough.
The GBI Region 13 office covers 10 counties in Central and South Georgia.
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