Searchers on Saturday got a possible lead in the ongoing search for a missing Cleveland man. Dogs in a search party looking for Douglas Cordell Barnes “hit on his scent,” a volunteer tells Now Habersham.
Family members and volunteers plan to return to Hart County on Sunday to continue searching the area off Highway 77 near the Dollar General Store and EMS substation. The site is about five miles south of where Barnes’ abandoned pickup truck was found.
Abandoned truck prompts search
The 36-year-old Barnes was last seen on July 19 at his home in White County. On July 21, a Hart County sheriff’s deputy found his gold Ford F-150 near I-85 sitting off the roadway, stuck in the mud. The truck was stuck at the intersection of Providence Church Road and Knox Bridge Crossing, not far from Lake Hartwell at the Georgia—South Carolina state line.
The deputy ran the vehicle’s registration and tagged the pickup with an orange sticker, but Barnes was not listed as missing at the time. His family filed a missing persons report with the White County Sheriff’s Office on July 28.
“On July 31, 2023, a Hart County deputy checked on the vehicle again, and when he ran the registration, he was alerted that Mr. Barnes had been reported as missing,” the Hart County Sheriff’s Office says.
Hart County authorities notified the White County Sheriff’s Office about the truck’s location at that point.
Barnes’ family says it’s out of character for him not to be in contact with anyone, and they’re concerned for his well-being. They’ve spent the past few weeks contacting media outlets in Georgia, looking for any help they can get to try and find him.
The search intensifies
The Hart County Sheriff’s Office says its deputies “have searched multiple areas, gone door to door, and followed up on many leads in an attempt to locate Mr. Barnes.”
Various groups are circulating flyers on social media, hoping someone will recognize him.
Barnes is a white male approximately five-foot-eight inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. When he was last seen, he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. He often wears a camo baseball cap.
Barnes’ niece set up an online fundraiser to help out-of-state family members with travel expenses so they could come to Northeast Georgia to search for him.
The search has intensified in recent days.
On August 10, Hart County deputies and first responders teamed up with the Georgia State Patrol and GSP Aviation Unit to conduct ground and aerial searches.
The nonprofit volunteer group Texas EQUUSearch helped organize this weekend’s searches. The group, headquartered near Houston, provides free assistance and has taken an active role in trying to locate Barnes.
The search will resume between 7 and 7:45 Sunday morning, August 13. Those wishing to help may check in at the staging area at the Hart County EMS substation on Highway 77.
Anyone with information on Barnes’ whereabouts is asked to call the Hart County Sheriff’s Office at 706-376-3114.
