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DeKalb County police searching for missing 9-year-old Eli, last seen on Willow Ridge Way  ◆  Douglasville driver charged in prom night accident that killed Patience Price, 18  ◆  Stone Mountain search continues for Sherry Wages, 72, missing since June  ◆  Trenton NY mother and 2 children found living in a shed; extradition pending  ◆  Athens Maxton Ball, 9, killed on Lexington Road at Whit Davis Road  ◆  Troup County Dakota Fuller charged with arson after Jim Turner Road fire  ◆  Waynesboro new judge assigned in ousted sheriff case  ◆  Valdosta 559.4 lbs of marijuana seized in i-75 traffic stop  ◆  Albany apd searching for 2 armed robbery suspects  ◆  Fulton County jail escapee Demetrius Burkes back in custody after downtown search  ◆  Floyd County William Roger Caver charged with felony murder in the death of Christopher D. Freeland  ◆  MARTA service shut at Medical Center station after a man walked onto the tracks  ◆  Milledgeville two sentenced in a federal methamphetamine trafficking case  ◆  Macon woman, 42, dies after being struck by a van on Houston Avenue  ◆  DeKalb County two separate shootings minutes apart, one person dead  ◆  Lawrenceville nine years in federal prison for Gabriel Ojeda Murguia in a fentanyl case  ◆  Smyrna bond denied for a former Ridgeview Institute employee charged in an assault on a patient  ◆  Washington County three arrested in a prison contraband-drop investigation  ◆  Savannah mayor and DA respond after a Daffin Park suspect's arrest history  ◆  Macon Torey Burnette sentenced to life with parole in the death of Zyshown Dunn  ◆  East Point human skull found in the woods; remains unidentified  ◆  McDuffie County Mateo Santos Pinkston held on a murder charge  ◆  Augusta testimony continues in the murder trial over the death of Arbrie Anthony, 8  ◆  Albany murder trial opens for Shaquille Mathis in the 2020 killing of Jawaski Kennedy  ◆  Sparta GBI seeking information on George Wayne Pailloz Jr., 55, missing since late July  ◆  Savannah Charles Teeple sentenced in the 2019 New Year's Eve death of Bruce Helmly  ◆  Dublin state board recommends suspending the city school board; nobody is suspended, Kemp decides  ◆  Cartersville three men indicted on federal forced-labor charges  ◆  Tifton two women charged with aggravated battery in Crescent Ridge attack  ◆  DeKalb County arrests announced over I-285 street takeover near Glenwood Road  ◆  Cornelia family escapes Waterwheel Court house fire during overnight storms  ◆  Gilmer County fallen tree blocked crews reaching a house fire on Highway 382  ◆  SR 316 right-lane closures at Jimmy Daniell Road Thursday and Friday nights  ◆  Vidalia Savannah man charged with murder in the July 4 death of Rashad Lumpkin  ◆  Savannah bond denied for all five charged in Fellwood Homes shooting  ◆  Glynn County sheriff's office defends its release of a veteran with dementia  ◆  Clayton County person shot after encounter between drivers near Highway 138  ◆  Downtown Atlanta man shot near Hurt Plaza in early-morning dispute  ◆  Marietta Messiah Harris, 2, found dead; no one charged with killing him  ◆  McDuffie County Tangla Brown, 48, killed in Old Milledgeville Road accident  ◆  Gainesville Obed Reyes charged in apartment break-in and assault of a teenager  ◆  Albany man found dead at Country Place Apartments  ◆  Albany two killed when van left Wildfair Road and struck a tree  ◆  Barrow County school bus accident on Highway 211, six students taken to a hospital  ◆  Paulding County former Dallas 911 director charged over Flock camera misuse  ◆  Albany structure fire on West Gordon Avenue, no injuries reported  ◆  Savannah man shot in the leg in the 1900 block of Pendleton Street  ◆  I-85 south closed in Atlanta after pedestrian accident near Metropolitan Pkwy  ◆  I-285 fully closed both directions this weekend, Cascade Rd to MLK Jr. Dr  ◆  Douglas County fourth arrest in Dog River Reservoir death of Jamal Parker  ◆  Warner Robins 14-year-old denied bond in high school shooting case  ◆  Macon woman's body found outside abandoned building on Second Street  ◆  Lithonia Ricardo Fallen, 20, killed in DeKalb County apartment shooting  ◆  Southwest Atlanta Cascade Avenue closed after tree downs power lines and traffic signal  ◆  Buford bystander shot outside Mall of Georgia venue; Jalyn Watkins, 22, charged  ◆  Columbus police search for Keith Teague, 57, missing since July 28  ◆  Warner Robins apartment fire damages eight units, displaces 15 at Village North  ◆  Conyers AutoZone employee shot in the leg; co-worker charged with reckless conduct  ◆  Lamar County Keith Odel, 26, arrested after driver shot at on Lamar County Line Road  ◆  Jonesboro Joshua Scott, 27, killed in Dixon Road shooting; one detained  ◆  Smyrna student arrested after weapon recovered at Campbell Middle School  ◆  Ellenwood Joanne Howell, 70, recovered from Misty Lake after Mattie's Call  ◆  DeKalb County 16-year-old arrested in Rockcliff Road sleepover shooting  ◆  Lawrenceville Camp Perrin Road house fire ruled arson, six adults displaced  ◆  Newnan girl, 14, escapes Highway 154 standoff; man charged  ◆  I-75 Atlanta Akil Lateef Mayer, 34, killed running across the interstate  ◆  Atlanta 85-year-old woman shot on her own porch on Browns Mill Road  ◆  Hazlehurst Terrance McCoy, 16, killed; 2 teens charged with murder  ◆  Vine City Demazio Skelton Jr., 35, killed; Naim Smith, 19, charged with murder  ◆  Marietta scooter rider critically hurt on Powder Springs Road  ◆  Whitfield County tractor-trailer overturns on I-75 near Dalton, SUV driver cited  ◆  Macon 4 hurt in I-75 accident at Eisenhower Parkway, driver fatigue cited  ◆  Atlanta man killed by Norfolk Southern train on Murphy Avenue  ◆  Troup County Ked Hall, 55, of LaGrange killed in Hines Road accident  ◆  Cartersville Connor Smith, 27, killed in Highway 20 motorcycle accident  ◆  Adairsville Ratanza Winters-Gardner, 34, killed; driver charged with vehicular homicide  ◆  Cartersville Brian McLaughlin, 57, killed crossing Highway 41 at Grassdale Road  ◆  Lake Allatoona all 5 aboard ejected in boat accident, no deaths reported  ◆  Macon 3 former Bibb County deputies charged over Flock camera searches  ◆  Bartow County 3 dead in 3 days on Highway 20 and Joe Frank Harris Parkway  ◆  Burke County 4 killed at two scenes, suspect shot dead by deputies  ◆  Albany school bus driver cited after Liberty Expressway accident  ◆  Columbia County 14-year-old killed on I-20 at mile marker 187  ◆  Cobb County Marietta man, 81, killed in Barrett Parkway accident  ◆  Rockdale County lockdowns lifted at two high schools, person in custody  ◆  Pulaski County Fred Hitchcock, 75, killed on Eastman Highway near Hawkinsville  ◆  Dooly County 1 killed on Highway 27 after a deer strike near Vienna  ◆  Cartersville Marcus Maurice Williams, 31, killed by Bartow County deputy  ◆  I-85 NB reopened at mile marker 136 after fatal 5-vehicle accident  ◆  Bulloch County Statesboro woman killed on Old River Road  ◆  North Georgia 2 critically injured in plane crash, NTSB investigating  ◆  DeKalb County police searching for missing 9-year-old Eli, last seen on Willow Ridge Way  ◆  Douglasville driver charged in prom night accident that killed Patience Price, 18  ◆  Stone Mountain search continues for Sherry Wages, 72, missing since June  ◆  Trenton NY mother and 2 children found living in a shed; extradition pending  ◆  Athens Maxton Ball, 9, killed on Lexington Road at Whit Davis Road  ◆  Troup County Dakota Fuller charged with arson after Jim Turner Road fire  ◆  Waynesboro new judge assigned in ousted sheriff case  ◆  Valdosta 559.4 lbs of marijuana seized in i-75 traffic stop  ◆  Albany apd searching for 2 armed robbery suspects  ◆  Fulton County jail escapee Demetrius Burkes back in custody after downtown search  ◆  Floyd County William Roger Caver charged with felony murder in the death of Christopher D. Freeland  ◆  MARTA service shut at Medical Center station after a man walked onto the tracks  ◆  Milledgeville two sentenced in a federal methamphetamine trafficking case  ◆  Macon woman, 42, dies after being struck by a van on Houston Avenue  ◆  DeKalb County two separate shootings minutes apart, one person dead  ◆  Lawrenceville nine years in federal prison for Gabriel Ojeda Murguia in a fentanyl case  ◆  Smyrna bond denied for a former Ridgeview Institute employee charged in an assault on a patient  ◆  Washington County three arrested in a prison contraband-drop investigation  ◆  Savannah mayor and DA respond after a Daffin Park suspect's arrest history  ◆  Macon Torey Burnette sentenced to life with parole in the death of Zyshown Dunn  ◆  East Point human skull found in the woods; remains unidentified  ◆  McDuffie County Mateo Santos Pinkston held on a murder charge  ◆  Augusta testimony continues in the murder trial over the death of Arbrie Anthony, 8  ◆  Albany murder trial opens for Shaquille Mathis in the 2020 killing of Jawaski Kennedy  ◆  Sparta GBI seeking information on George Wayne Pailloz Jr., 55, missing since late July  ◆  Savannah Charles Teeple sentenced in the 2019 New Year's Eve death of Bruce Helmly  ◆  Dublin state board recommends suspending the city school board; nobody is suspended, Kemp decides  ◆  Cartersville three men indicted on federal forced-labor charges  ◆  Tifton two women charged with aggravated battery in Crescent Ridge attack  ◆  DeKalb County arrests announced over I-285 street takeover near Glenwood Road  ◆  Cornelia family escapes Waterwheel Court house fire during overnight storms  ◆  Gilmer County fallen tree blocked crews reaching a house fire on Highway 382  ◆  SR 316 right-lane closures at Jimmy Daniell Road Thursday and Friday nights  ◆  Vidalia Savannah man charged with murder in the July 4 death of Rashad Lumpkin  ◆  Savannah bond denied for all five charged in Fellwood Homes shooting  ◆  Glynn County sheriff's office defends its release of a veteran with dementia  ◆  Clayton County person shot after encounter between drivers near Highway 138  ◆  Downtown Atlanta man shot near Hurt Plaza in early-morning dispute  ◆  Marietta Messiah Harris, 2, found dead; no one charged with killing him  ◆  McDuffie County Tangla Brown, 48, killed in Old Milledgeville Road accident  ◆  Gainesville Obed Reyes charged in apartment break-in and assault of a teenager  ◆  Albany man found dead at Country Place Apartments  ◆  Albany two killed when van left Wildfair Road and struck a tree  ◆  Barrow County school bus accident on Highway 211, six students taken to a hospital  ◆  Paulding County former Dallas 911 director charged over Flock camera misuse  ◆  Albany structure fire on West Gordon Avenue, no injuries reported  ◆  Savannah man shot in the leg in the 1900 block of Pendleton Street  ◆  I-85 south closed in Atlanta after pedestrian accident near Metropolitan Pkwy  ◆  I-285 fully closed both directions this weekend, Cascade Rd to MLK Jr. Dr  ◆  Douglas County fourth arrest in Dog River Reservoir death of Jamal Parker  ◆  Warner Robins 14-year-old denied bond in high school shooting case  ◆  Macon woman's body found outside abandoned building on Second Street  ◆  Lithonia Ricardo Fallen, 20, killed in DeKalb County apartment shooting  ◆  Southwest Atlanta Cascade Avenue closed after tree downs power lines and traffic signal  ◆  Buford bystander shot outside Mall of Georgia venue; Jalyn Watkins, 22, charged  ◆  Columbus police search for Keith Teague, 57, missing since July 28  ◆  Warner Robins apartment fire damages eight units, displaces 15 at Village North  ◆  Conyers AutoZone employee shot in the leg; co-worker charged with reckless conduct  ◆  Lamar County Keith Odel, 26, arrested after driver shot at on Lamar County Line Road  ◆  Jonesboro Joshua Scott, 27, killed in Dixon Road shooting; one detained  ◆  Smyrna student arrested after weapon recovered at Campbell Middle School  ◆  Ellenwood Joanne Howell, 70, recovered from Misty Lake after Mattie's Call  ◆  DeKalb County 16-year-old arrested in Rockcliff Road sleepover shooting  ◆  Lawrenceville Camp Perrin Road house fire ruled arson, six adults displaced  ◆  Newnan girl, 14, escapes Highway 154 standoff; man charged  ◆  I-75 Atlanta Akil Lateef Mayer, 34, killed running across the interstate  ◆  Atlanta 85-year-old woman shot on her own porch on Browns Mill Road  ◆  Hazlehurst Terrance McCoy, 16, killed; 2 teens charged with murder  ◆  Vine City Demazio Skelton Jr., 35, killed; Naim Smith, 19, charged with murder  ◆  Marietta scooter rider critically hurt on Powder Springs Road  ◆  Whitfield County tractor-trailer overturns on I-75 near Dalton, SUV driver cited  ◆  Macon 4 hurt in I-75 accident at Eisenhower Parkway, driver fatigue cited  ◆  Atlanta man killed by Norfolk Southern train on Murphy Avenue  ◆  Troup County Ked Hall, 55, of LaGrange killed in Hines Road accident  ◆  Cartersville Connor Smith, 27, killed in Highway 20 motorcycle accident  ◆  Adairsville Ratanza Winters-Gardner, 34, killed; driver charged with vehicular homicide  ◆  Cartersville Brian McLaughlin, 57, killed crossing Highway 41 at Grassdale Road  ◆  Lake Allatoona all 5 aboard ejected in boat accident, no deaths reported  ◆  Macon 3 former Bibb County deputies charged over Flock camera searches  ◆  Bartow County 3 dead in 3 days on Highway 20 and Joe Frank Harris Parkway  ◆  Burke County 4 killed at two scenes, suspect shot dead by deputies  ◆  Albany school bus driver cited after Liberty Expressway accident  ◆  Columbia County 14-year-old killed on I-20 at mile marker 187  ◆  Cobb County Marietta man, 81, killed in Barrett Parkway accident  ◆  Rockdale County lockdowns lifted at two high schools, person in custody  ◆  Pulaski County Fred Hitchcock, 75, killed on Eastman Highway near Hawkinsville  ◆  Dooly County 1 killed on Highway 27 after a deer strike near Vienna  ◆  Cartersville Marcus Maurice Williams, 31, killed by Bartow County deputy  ◆  I-85 NB reopened at mile marker 136 after fatal 5-vehicle accident  ◆  Bulloch County Statesboro woman killed on Old River Road  ◆  North Georgia 2 critically injured in plane crash, NTSB investigating  ◆ 
The Local Alert
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia · DeKalb County · Missing child

Missing 9-Year-Old, DeKalb County GA: Police Search for Eli, Last Seen on Willow Ridge Way

He walked outside to take the trash out around 2 p.m. Thursday and did not come back. DeKalb County police are asking anyone who sees him to call 770-724-7710.

By Published Aug. 13, 5:55 p.m. 3 min read Active search
Call DeKalb County police: 770-724-7710

Anyone who sees Eli or knows where he may be is asked to call that number, WJCL reported.

Key facts

Who
A 9-year-old boy, identified by police only by his first name, Eli
Last seen
Leaving the 900 block of Willow Ridge Way to take out the trash
When
Around 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13
Height and weight
4 feet, 8 inches — about 120 pounds
Appearance
Brown eyes, black hair in a low haircut
Wearing
A black shirt and green-and-blue tie-dye Crocs
Agency
DeKalb County Police Department
Tip line
770-724-7710

What do police say happened?

DeKalb County police are asking for the public's help finding a 9-year-old boy who was last seen leaving the 900 block of Willow Ridge Way to take out the trash around 2 p.m. Thursday, WJCL reported.

The child was identified only by his first name, Eli.

Police released a photograph of Eli, Atlanta News First reported.

What does Eli look like, and what was he wearing?

Eli is 4 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds, WJCL reported. He has brown eyes and black hair in a low haircut.

When he was last seen he was wearing a black shirt and green-and-blue tie-dye Crocs.

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How do you reach DeKalb County police?

Anyone who sees Eli or knows where he may be is asked to call DeKalb County police at 770-724-7710, WJCL reported.

What we don't know yet

  • Eli's last name — police released only his first name
  • Which DeKalb County city or community the 900 block of Willow Ridge Way falls in
  • How far the search has extended, or how many officers are involved
  • Whether he has been located

Frequently asked questions

Who is the missing 9-year-old in DeKalb County?
A boy identified by DeKalb County police only by his first name, Eli.

When was Eli last seen?
Around 2 p.m. Thursday, leaving the 900 block of Willow Ridge Way to take out the trash.

What does Eli look like?
He is 4 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair in a low haircut.

What was Eli wearing?
A black shirt and green-and-blue tie-dye Crocs.

Who do I call if I see him?
DeKalb County police at 770-724-7710. Anyone who sees Eli or knows where he may be is asked to call that number.

What county is this in?
DeKalb County, Georgia, in metro Atlanta. DeKalb County police are handling the search.

Where is the 900 block of Willow Ridge Way?
In DeKalb County, Georgia. Police have not specified which city or community inside the county it falls in.

Has Eli been found?
Police were still asking for the public's help as of 4:52 p.m. Thursday, when WJCL last updated its report.

Sources

About this report

Compiled by The Local Alert Georgia Staff from the named news outlet linked above. The Local Alert is not a law enforcement agency. Corrections and removal requests: see our corrections policy.

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