Police say body may be missing Georgia student

Bryant Budd was last seen alive on April 1, 1999.

LA GRANGE, Georgia (CNN) -- Authorities in Georgia said Tuesday they found what appears to be the body of a college student who disappeared during a fishing trip two years ago.

The body was found about two miles from where Bryant Budd was last seen on April 1, 1999.

"We feel pretty confident that it's him," said Capt. James Woodruff of the Troup County sheriff's office. Police are waiting for final confirmation from state medical examiners.

Budd was a 21-year-old sophomore at Atlanta's Emory University when he wandered off in a wooded area while fishing with his father at an area lake. Investigators suspect Budd killed himself that day, succumbing to what his parents described as depression.

Budd's case was featured on CNN just last week. Woodruff said clothing from the site where the body was found on Monday afternoon matched the initial description of what Budd was wearing when he disappeared.

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Police also recovered a 9 mm pistol they suspected Budd took with him when he wandered off into the woods.

"I took him fishing, thinking it would calm him down," said his father, Warren Budd. "The boat had an electric motor. We took it a third of the way out there, and he started paddling for some strange reason."

Budd said his son rowed the boat ashore and got out, claiming he had to go to the bathroom.

"I came back here to the dock," Budd said. "I started hollering frantically ... nothing happened."

The body was discovered by people surveying timber on property about two miles from where Budd's father last saw him -- about 100 yards from a housing subdivision that backed up to the wooded area.

Authorities began an immediate search after Budd was reported missing, looking in the small lake and combing the surrounding woods. They never closed the search, using cadaver dogs to hunt for the missing man just months ago.

"We've used cadaver dogs, canine dogs, helicopters, airplanes, on foot, on horseback, everything, and nothing's come up," said Troup County Detective Willis Grizzard.

Bryant Budd's parents described their son as a Little League hero, happy-go-lucky for most of his young life, and a loyal sibling to his two brothers and two sisters.

"I ask God to take care of him and let him know how much he's loved, and there's nothing he could do to cause us to be disappointed in him, and to show him the way back home," said his mother, Courtenay Budd.