A Georgia sheriff is offering $500,000 reward from his own pocket for information on Kendrick Johnson's 2013 death

• A Georgia sheriff is putting up a $500,000 incentive for information related to the death of Kendrick Johnson.
• Johnson, 17, was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat in 2013, prompting local and federal investigations.

A Georgia sheriff said he's putting up a $500,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction in the case of a teenage boy who was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat.

Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk, who closed the case into the death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson late last month after investigators reopened the case in March 2021, announced on January 31 a renewed effort to secure any information that investigators could not uncover, NBC News reported.

Paulk's office released a 16-page document this past January detailing his investigation, which concluded that no charges will be filed in Johnson's death.

Police in 2013 found the body of Johnson in a mat in his Valdosta, Georgia, high school gym, prompting local authorities and the Justice Department to open an investigation into his death. Six years ago, authorities closed the case for the first time, ruling Johnson's death an accident.

After Paulk closed the case once more, Johnson's parents, who have for years insisted that their son had been murdered, accused him of lying.

"Any person who looks at this case objectively would know that it would be impossible to conceal any evidence due to the involvement of so many agencies and investigators," Paulk said, according to NBC News.

"After the release of my synopsis of the Federal files on the Kendrick Johnson case, his parents have called me a liar and continue to state that Kendrick was murdered," he added, the outlet reported.

Paulk said, in response to Johnson's parents, the reward would serve as an incentive to gather more information.

"Because of these statements, I am personally — with my own funds — offering a reward of one-half million dollars ($500,000.00) to anyone who comes forward with information that results in the arrest and conviction of a person for the alleged murder of Kendrick Johnson at Lowndes High School," he said, according to NBC News.

Paulk's office did not immediately return Insider's request for comment asking for more information.

The reward, he said, is "one last avenue" in the search for answers in the case of Johnson's death, NBC News reported.

"I'm willing to put up those funds to see if anybody comes forward with anything viable that might have been missed," Paulk told NBC News. "I don't really feel like there's anybody out there with knowledge and from what I've seen — I studied all the camera angles and everything else — it was a tragic accident. But if somebody comes in with a different view we're going to listen to them."