PUTNAM COUNTY
The last time Michael Maddox was seen by his family, he was excitedly asking them about his birthday, which was only a few days away at the time.
The 62-year-old Maddox had stopped by his guardian/caretaker’s house around 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19 to discuss his upcoming birthday on Dec. 28, according to Eatonton Police reports.
Sadly, Maddox died before he was able to celebrate his birthday; his body was found in the woods behind his house on Tuesday, Dec. 27 around 4 p.m. That brief visit with his guardian was the last known sighting of Maddox, who was commonly seen walking the sidewalks of Oak Street, always gazing up at the sky as he walked.
“Everyone in town knew of him because they always saw him walking, and many people told me they spoke to him every day as he passed by,” Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell said. “The town of Eatonton will miss him because we all spoke with him and he never bothered anyone, he just walked and looked up at the sky.”
Maddox grew up in Eatonton and served in the U.S. Army, the police chief said, pausing in the conversation to express his gratitude for Maddox’s service to his country. The chief learned of Maddox’s military service from his family members but said he did not know the specifics.
Maddox’s stomping grounds seemed to be between CVS on Oak Street to downtown on Jefferson Avenue.
Most often he was in the NAPA-McDonald’s area, the chief said, which is one block parallel to the street where Maddox lived. He lived in a family-owned house on Baynes Street.
Both his guardian and Maddox’s sister went to Eatonton Police Department around 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve and reported they had not seen Maddox since the weekend of Dec. 17-18 and Monday the 19th.
Cardwell immediately formed a search party of EPD officers and EFD firefighters. There were concerns about the historically low temperatures that dropped into the teens and single digits over the Christmas holiday weekend.
“We conducted a search by foot of the area surrounding Maddox’s address and known routes he walks. After searching the area, we were unable to locate Maddox,” officer Rickey Alex wrote in his report.
Cardwell said they ended the search when darkness fell, but the chief went back out on Christmas Day and resumed searching by himself, though without success.
On Monday, authorities expanded the search area, still with no results. Tuesday, Maddox’s friends and family searched the areas around his house and discovered his body in the woods behind his house.
Deputy Coroner Andre Williams said Maddox was laying on his side on the ground with no visible marks or injuries.
Williams said that due to the cold temperatures, it was difficult for him to say how long Maddox had been deceased, but he speculated it had been since Monday, Dec. 19.
Cardwell said he, too, believed that Maddox had most likely died on the day he was last seen.
The police chief said Maddox had on different clothes than he was reported wearing when last seen. An autopsy is being performed at the State Crime Lab, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in to assist EPD with the investigation of the case.