Al Novotnak was found deceased this afternoon, on Friday, December 27, 2024. Six days ago, Al had wandered from home. It appears as though he walked just over half of a mile from his home, still in his subdivision.
According to Peachtree City Police Chief Janet Moon, he was found in the backyard of an unoccupied house in Interlochen subdivision by a neighbor who had been working on fence repairs all week. Due to the terrain, the neighbor had not seen Al until he walked to the other side of the fence to work on a board.
“The previous day, when we went door to door, the homeowners at this address were snowbirds and have not been home in several months,” said Lt. Chris Hyatt, Peachtree City Police Department Public Information Officer.
“The family was blown away that Al could have made it as far as he did. There’s no telling how long it took him to walk that far. He was found over just a half mile from his residence,” said Lt. Hyatt, “Given the terrain and topography of the Interlochen subdivision, the distance that he had to cover, given his condition, is much greater than your average half mile, especially in the late hours of the night he went missing.”
Al Novotnak’s home has lakefront property. Lt. Hyatt explained the search, “During our initial search, within that first 24 to 48 hours, we were doing our best to rule out the simple fact that he had wandered out of the house in the dark. And again, with his house, it has elevated a great distance up above the water’s edge of Lake Kedron, but his house actually has lakefront property. So we’re out there trying to confirm whether or not he stumbled down the backyard and ended up in the water reservoir or any of the side streets within the adjacent location of his residence was kind of our immediate concern.
“Basically 360 degrees around his street is nothing but deep ravines and heavily wooded areas. Those were the ones where we were out with boots on the ground covering as much distance as possible, just verifying that he wasn’t in that immediate area. Our initial efforts, obviously, it’s a lot of ground to cover.
“We had officers on ATVs, the cart path, and vehicles. We had the bloodhounds come out and attempt to track again if he remains on the pavement, that increases the difficulty for canines to get positive indications and directions.”
“The location that he was actually found was more than likely just outside of the initial scope of the efforts when we were extensively searching the surrounding area. But it was also a location where an officer could have driven by this residence numerous times and never seen him.”
“I even walked to the end of the driveway where their backyard began and given the terrain of their backyard, I didn’t even see him until I actually had to enter their backyard to do so. If that gives you an idea,” said Lt. Hyatt.
“After the initial extensive search of the area, we kind of rule out the fact that he didn’t simply just wander out of his home and succumb to the elements to the best of our abilities. We paired that with the information gathered from his initial missing report three or four days prior where he went out walking the dog, probably made it to the end of the street and then bummed a ride to a local box store. He went shopping for eggs, bummed a ride back and had them drop him off at the wrong neighborhood at the wrong address.”
“So, it was not beyond normal conjecture to think, ‘Hey, there’s a good chance somebody found him walking around again and he convinced them that he needed to go to a different place.’ That was why our urgency kind of shifted to let’s get this message out, at least to the local public. That way we can start getting eyes out while everybody’s finishing up holiday shopping. He’s going to be somewhere close with no understanding of where he’s currently at given his condition.”
When Al was found, he was not wearing proper clothing for the elements. According to Lt. Hyatt, he did not have proper footwear, he did not have long sleeves. He had gotten dressed, but not fully dressed, especially for the 28-degree cold at the time he went missing.
No foul play is indicated, but to give the family as much closure as possible, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken control of Al’s remains and the medical examiner will confirm a cause of death.
“While it’s not the outcome any of us wanted, at least there is a sense of closure for the family. Some families never get that. That’s why we continued the search,” said Lt. Hyatt.
The area that Al was found it was one of the next search areas gridded to be covered today. If the neighbor hadn’t found him, Lt. Hyatt said he would have been found today, regardless.
Lt Hyatt continued, “There was so much community collaboration and participation in assistance. This is just one of those examples where the community that we live in dropped everything they could even during the holiday times. And I can’t tell you how many Facebook messages I received from families saying, Hey, what can we do? How can we help?”
“I started getting random messages from families saying, ‘We had 25 family members in town for Christmas. We went out on golf carts. And just so you know, we checked this area today and didn’t see anything.’ I can’t even tell you how many of those types of messages I got from our social media accounts. And that’s even without asking for help. That doesn’t happen in other cities that I’ve ever been a part of. So this was a big community effort. Everybody did what they could to help give this family some closure, especially this time of year.”
Lt. Hyatt concluded, “And I can tell you from being the firsthand person that broke the news to the family, they are eternally grateful for everybody’s involvement and efforts and could not thank people enough for helping them bring Al home at this time and giving their family some sense of closure.”
I didn’t see a mention of drones being used. Does the PTC police of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department have any? If not, it may be time to get some that can detect heat.
Sorry, should be “or the Fayette…”
Yes, very sad…would a tracker dog have possibly found him?
This is a very sad ending to this misadventure. I know the family is reeling. It sounds like the police and the community did everything they could rationally do to intervene. We have a very good community.