Michael Bowles’ mother, Eleanor, was his North Star.
“I was on my way to visit her for the holidays and got to her a few hours too late,” he said Sunday.
He found her dead in the garage of her home in a gated Buckhead community early Saturday evening.
Bowles’ death is the second homicide at a Buckhead residence in as many months and comes amid the Atlanta community’s ongoing efforts to turn back a rash of violent crime.
The 77-year-old, described by friends as a strong, independent woman, had been preparing for Christmas when she was stabbed multiple times in her garage, according to family and Atlanta police. Investigators believe she may have interrupted the suspect earlier that day, between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., as he tried to steal her 2021 Lexus Rx 350 from her home on Paces West Terrace, just off West Paces Ferry Road, investigators told reporters the following morning.
Her son found her body about five hours later and called police.
“Finding her like that is something that will be with me forever,” Michael Bowles said in a statement shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “What happened to her was her worst nightmare. It’s most people’s worst nightmare.”
Eleanor Bowles’ vehicle was recovered in DeKalb County after allegedly being driven to different locations across Atlanta, investigators said, although they did not say where it had been spotted.
Police said they were only looking for one person of interest in the case as of Sunday, but they said they are leaving the door open for multiple suspects to be identified.
“This is not a way that a family should have to spend their holiday season, mourning and grieving a death of a loved one,” Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said. “We will leave no stones unturned to find a resolution for this family.”
Investigators are still looking into how the suspect or suspects had access to the gated neighborhood.
Credit: WSBTV Videos
Officials are asking anyone with security cameras in the area to check their footage between the hours that the incident is believed to have taken place and to let police know if anything suspicious was captured. They also ask anyone who saw the black Lexus to let investigators know.
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Michael Bowles said he is committed to spreading the word of the outrageously tragic way his mother lost her life.
“I want everyone to understand that none of us are safe,” he said in the statement. “I hope that people read this story and understand this, and then maybe we can all collectively effectuate some change. I will carry that message with me forever, for mom.”
“She was a beautiful soul, and she taught me how to approach the world with empathy,” he added.
In a GoFundMe campaign set up to benefit the Atlanta Humane Society in her memory, her family described Eleanor Bowles as a “kind, precious, funny, loving mother, grandmother and friend.”
“It is with heartbreaking sadness that we grieve her loss from this world entirely too soon. ... It is unbelievable that crimes like this continue to happen in Atlanta, and it must stop,” the family wrote.
Saturday’s killing came just under two months after a man was fatally shot during a carjacking at a home along one of the most prestigious streets in Buckhead, known for its wealth and political influence with its mansions and high-end shopping centers.
Travis Landrey, 18, is accused of killing 57-year-old Christopher Eberhart in a driveway on Peachtree Battle Avenue on the morning of Oct. 13. Landrey had just been in a crash and was walking around Buckhead with a gun looking for a new form of transportation when he saw Eberhart in his GMC Sierra pickup, police said at the time.
Eberhart’s body was found a short time later by a woman and her 9-year-old daughter on their way to school. Landrey was arrested days later in Mobile County, Alabama. Authorities believed Landrey may have been trying to get back to Louisiana, where he is from, when he allegedly took Eberhart’s truck.
Recently, some Buckhead residents unsuccessfully pushed to secede from Atlanta in an effort to combat the surge in violent crime in the community.
They argued that Atlanta city and police leaders hadn’t done enough to get the violence under control, although police have recently pointed to data showing a drop in crime in Buckhead in 2021.
In January, Atlanta police installed a new police precinct near the intersection of busy Peachtree and West Paces Ferry roads, which opened over the summer and is staffed by at least a dozen officers.
Anyone with information about Eleanor Bowles’ death is asked to call detectives at 404-546-2518. Tipsters can remain anonymous by submitting tips to Crime Stoppers at 404-577-(TIPS) 8477 or visiting the Crime Stoppers website at atlantapolicefoundation.org. There is a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Identifying information is not required to receive the reward.
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