BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The Glynn County Police Department is asking the community for help, offering a $25,000 reward for information in the death of Commissioner Tom Sublett earlier this week.
According to police, the 52-year-old's body was found floating in the water early Tuesday morning between a boat and a dock on St. Simons Island.
The coroner confirmed Sublett drowned in the river near a dock at St. Simons Boating and Fishing Club. An autopsy revealed his hands were tied with plastic zip ties and he fell into the water after he was shot in the head.
Despite an extensive investigation, what led to the commissioner's death remains a mystery.
"Early this morning, I did inform the family that I was releasing a $25,000 reward from the county police for information leading to the arrest or conviction of any person who is responsible for the death of Commissioner Sublett," Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said.
Doering is releasing few details about the case.
"We know the timeline (of when Sublett died sometime) from Monday night from about 10:30 p.m. to about 4 a.m. of Tuesday morning when his car was found," Doering said. "So in that timeline, if anyone has seen Commissioner Sublett's four-dour silver Toyota Avalon anywhere at that time, we would like to know that. That's information that would be helpful to us."
An active member of the community, Sublett led several charitable organizations, including the United Way. Many people can't imagine how something like this could happen.
"He was just a level-headed fellow that I think, as you will see the attendance to the funeral tomorrow, you'll find that Tom had zillions of friends. He was a well-liked guy," Glynn County Commissioner Bob Coleman said.
As a fellow commissioner and friend of Sublett, Coleman is hopeful this case can be solved. He said he's still stunned by what happened. No weapon has been found.
"We've just, a situation where there's so many unanswered questions, there's so many what-ifs and so many different scenarios we can look at with what we know now," Coleman said. "There's just several options of just about every fact we know. It could've been this way or it could've been that way."
In the meantime, it's an uncertainty that has the entire community on edge.
Anyone who has information that may be related to Sublett's death is asked to call the Silent Witness line at 912-264-1333 or the Glynn County police tip line at 912-554-7847.