Five people are dead, including the wife and two young children of a Hall County deputy, following a fiery multivehicle wreck along a busy highway in Habersham County on Sunday afternoon.
Officials on Wednesday provided information about how the community can support Deputy Patrick Neil Holtzclaw, who is dealing with an unspeakable tragedy. He is forced to bury his wife along with his 6-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter.
“What can you say when someone loses his entire family?” Sheriff Gerald Couch wrote in a statement. “There are no words that can adequately express the heartbreak the Holtzclaw family is experiencing right now, but clearly our entire agency is devastated for them.”
The crash happened at about 3:30 p.m. just outside the town of Alto. Troopers said Avonlea Holtzclaw, 29, of Dahlonega, was traveling with her kids in a Ford Explorer and tried to cross the southbound lanes of Ga. 365 onto Mount Zion Road. That’s when 58-year-old Mitchell Boggs of Marietta, who was driving south in a Corvette with another passenger, struck her vehicle.
Both the Explorer and Corvette caught on fire, and there were no survivors, according to the Georgia State Patrol. The passenger in Boggs’ vehicle was not publicly identified. The sheriff’s office asked that the names of the deputy’s children not be released.
“Marty, the girls, and I are asking all Georgians to join us in praying for Deputy Holtzclaw as he mourns his wife and children after this tragedy,” Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted Monday.
On Wednesday morning, the sheriff’s office announced it was accepting donations that will go directly toward Holtzclaw through the Georgia Law Enforcement Organization, a non-profit that provides services to help officers and their families in times of need. The decision was made with the blessing of the deputy and his family, the sheriff’s office said, and no percentage will be taken out from any donation.
Couch previously announced a pledge to support Holtzclaw in the “coming days, weeks and months.”
“We appreciate the many law enforcement agencies that have reached out asking how they can help. If I know our community, they will want to offer support, too,” the sheriff added. “For now, we ask that you remember Deputy Holtzclaw in your prayers and give him time to grieve privately.”
The crash remains under investigation.
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