A Carroll County, Georgia crash that ended a desperate family search has left two families grieving and four children without a parent. Relatives had spent more than a week searching for 42-year-old Emanuel Adams and 25-year-old Destiney Fields when family members spotted a silver car in a wooded area off Oak Grove Road in Carrollton on Tuesday, August 4.
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“My heart really just dropped,” Justice Daniel told WSB-TV after arriving at the scene.Daniel said she and a cousin were searching the area when something drew her attention toward the woods.
“Something just told me to stop, and I looked over and I saw the car,” she said.
The vehicle matched the Nissan Altima Adams had reportedly been driving when he disappeared. Daniel said a man who stopped near the family went into the wooded area to inspect the car.
“It was actually a guy that stopped with us, he went down there and he confirmed it was two people in the car,” Daniel said.
According to Atlanta News First, Georgia State Patrol investigators determined that the 2013 Nissan Altima had been traveling west on Oak Grove Road when the driver failed to negotiate a curve.
Troopers said the car went off the right side of the road, crossed back over the roadway and struck a tree on the passenger side before coming to rest in a deep ditch. Adams and Fields were pronounced dead at the Carroll County crash scene.
Authorities have not confirmed when the collision occurred. Fields was last seen by her sister in Carrollton on July 26. The pair were formally reported missing on August 1, according to information provided to the outlet by state troopers.
In the middle of the heartbreak, first responders discovered the pair’s puppy alive inside the wrecked vehicle.
“The puppy was still alive,” Daniel said.
Georgia State Patrol confirmed through FOX 5 Atlanta that the dog was safely returned to the family. Officials have not said how long the puppy was trapped inside the car because the exact date of the Carroll County crash remains under investigation.
Loved ones gathered along Oak Grove Road as emergency crews worked at the scene. Randy Simpkins, Adams’ employer, said Adams had temporarily lived on his farm and had become like family.
“Emmanuel’s a big hearted, loving young man,” Simpkins told WSB TV.
“We’ve been looking for him for a week and trying to reach out to him and I just can’t believe he is gone,” he said.
According to WSB TV, Adams leaves behind three children, while Fields leaves behind one child. A relative also told the station the two had recently started dating, although law enforcement agencies have not publicly defined their relationship.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said through FOX 5 Atlanta that the case remains active and asked the community to keep the victims’ families and the first responders involved in their thoughts and prayers.
