When the family of Garcia Danielle Gaddis got a phone call from his job that he hadn’t shown up to work Friday morning, they knew something was wrong.
Two days later, after getting a call about a suspicious vehicle, Gwinnett County police searched his red Dodge Ram truck that was parked at the intersection of Pierce Brennan Drive and Tech Center Parkway outside the Olde Peachtree Townhomes. Officers found the 39-year-old from Sandy Springs dead inside around 2 p.m. Sunday.
Channel 2 Action News
Channel 2 Action News
His sister, Sierra McKinley, said Gaddis had been missing since Thursday around 8 p.m. After his mother spoke to his boss Friday morning, the family called his roommate to get answers, McKinley told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by phone from Mississippi.
The roommate said he saw Gaddis on Thursday evening doing laundry and setting out his morning work clothes. Gaddis then received a phone call and immediately left the home, the roommate told the family. That was the last time anyone heard from him.
“We’re all confused. We don’t know who he was on the phone with. That’s why we just want to get his phone record,” McKinley said. “We don’t have any family members in Atlanta, everyone is from Mississippi, so we don’t know any suspects, we don’t know nobody.”
McKinley said they called Gaddis’ phone numerous times Friday, but it kept going to voicemail. Not answering his phone or giving his family a call was unlike him, according to McKinley, who said she spoke to her brother almost every day.
“When I found out about (him going missing), I was trying to think positive,” she said. “But for him to not call in three, four days, I had already felt like somebody in Atlanta killed my brother.”
Family Photo
Family Photo
The family was planning to get together for Thanksgiving after seeing each other in September when Gaddis went to Mississippi. He moved to Atlanta about six years ago in hopes of making more money and had been working as a truck driver.
“We need justice and I’m gonna get justice for my brother,” McKinley said.
Investigators are still exploring all motives and did not say how Gaddis died.
Authorities are asking anyone with information to call 770-513-5300. Tipsters can remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477, texting information to 274637 or visiting the Crime Stoppers website.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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