UPDATED REPORT, WEDNESDAY, 10:10 A.M.:
We’ve just heard from Jeffrey Glossop, the chief ranger at the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, who said this morning the panhandler who fled from a pursuit at the Sope Creek trails by his rangers and Cobb Police on Tuesday is still at-large
The park also has released some surveillance photos of the man, who may be homeless and living in the nearby woods.
He’s described as a black male in his early 40s, and is around 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10 and weighs around 170 pounds, and has a droopy or lazy eye.
Glossop said the man was last seen wearing a dark t-shirt and spotted or plaid light-colored pants.
“We don’t have any reason to think he’s a threat to anyone,” but if you should see him do not approach him but call 911, Glossop said.
The saga actually began on Monday, when Glossop said his office got a call from a park visitor who said a man was sleeping in the woods in the Sope Creek unit.
He said park rangers responded and found him in a tent, but the man got away.
On Tuesday, he said, they got complaints from park visitors about panhandling by a man who matched the description of the individual they spotted on Monday.
Glossop said that man has an outstanding warrant in Rockdale County, but doesn’t know what for.
The Sope Creek trails are open to the public today; Glossop said only the Paper Mill Road parking lot for access to those trails was closed briefly while Cobb Police units were on the scene assisting with the search.
Glossop said visitors were asked during that time to park in the lot off Columns Drive to access the Sope Creek trails.
The park area is located near Sope Creek Elementary School, which was “operating on a normal schedule” on Wednesday, according to a Cobb County School District spokesperson.
ORIGINAL REPORT POSTED 5 P.M. TUESDAY, SEPT. 18
The National Park Service was searching for a panhandler who slipped away on Tuesday in the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area Cochran Shoals Unit in East Cobb, prompting a closure of the Sope Creek Trails.
The Chattahoochee NRA released a public message about the closure around 11 a.m. Tuesday, but didn’t say why.
Sgt. Wayne Delk, a spokesman for Cobb Police, said Cobb Police were called to assist in the search.
He said the individual being sought also has an outstanding warrant in Rockdale County, but he did not know the reason for the warrant.
Delk said the panhandler isn’t considered a threat to the public, and that the NPS is continuing the search.
East Cobb News has left a message with the Chattahoochee NRA and will update with more information.
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