Lewis Clayton (Clay) Bryant was born and raised in Troup County, Georgia and began his career in law enforcement in 1973 as a radio operator with the Georgia State Patrol. In 1976, at the age of twenty-one, he became the youngest trooper on the Georgia State Patrol. In 1980 he became police chief of Hogansville, Georgia, and stayed in that position for twelve years until resigning in 1992 and going into the private sector. He has been recognized as the most prolific cold case investigator in the United States for single-event homicides. Bryant resides in LaGrange and currently serves as an investigator for the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council.His cases have been chronicled on 48 Hours Investigates, Bill Curtis's Cold Case Files, Discovery ID Murder Bookand a featured article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, as well as articles in many local and regional newspapers.