Missing man located safe after his empty vehicle was found near lake, Georgia cops say

UPDATE: Robert G. Ballard was found safe in Morgan County, Georgia, according to an update from the Greene County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 3.

The original story continues below.

The search continues for a missing man whose abandoned vehicle was found near a Georgia boat ramp.

The Greene County Sheriff’s Office located the vehicle belonging to a missing man from Atlanta about 70 miles southeast of where he was reported missing, deputies said in a news release.

The sheriff’s office wrote on July 31 that it found the vehicle of Robert G. Ballard at the Parks Mill Road boat ramp near Lake Oconee.

Ballard, 61, had been reported as missing and endangered by the Atlanta Police Department.

Ballard has not yet been found, but Georgia authorities continue to search for him. Those with any information on his possible location should call 911, officials say.

Each year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the United States, with the location of up to 100,000 people remaining unknown “at any given time,” according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

This story was originally published August 1, 2023 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Missing man located safe after his empty vehicle was found near lake, Georgia cops say."