Man sentenced to life in prison in death of 19-year-old missing since 2016

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - One of the two people arrested in connection to the death and disappearance of a 19-year-old missing since 2016 will spend the rest of his life behind bars, according to the Newton County District Attorney’s Office.

Jonathan Alexander Warren was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in connection to the death and disappearance of Morgan Bauer. Warren pleaded guilty to malice murder, necrophilia, concealing the death of another and tampering with evidence.

Bauer went missing in February 2016 — just two weeks after moving to Georgia from South Dakota. FBI Atlanta said Bauer was last seen near a park in Portedale before she disappeared.

A friend of Morgan’s told Atlanta News First that she had started working in Gainesville as a dancer, and then she was never heard from again.

In July 2023, search efforts ramped back up for Bauer, who had been missing for seven years up to that point. Law enforcement said new evidence, which they did not disclose, led them to a Newton County property. Investigators scoured a home on Broad Street, near the Yellow River.

Bauer’s bones were found in Porterdale in 2023, according to FBI Atlanta.

In August, Warren was arrested in Los Angeles, California, and Goble was arrested in Peoria, Illinois.

Then, in October, the two were indicted in Newton County.

The Newton County District Attorney’s Office said the indictment against Goble is still pending. She was charged with concealing a death and tampering with evidence.

Morgan’s mother, Sherri Keenan, declined comment at this time, as the case is not yet closed.