Gilmer County woman reports father went missing in Athens

Edward LeBlanc

By Joe Johnson

A woman reported that her father who had been living in Athens was missing after not having had contact with him for over two weeks.

The Ellijay woman reported on Thursday that she last had contact with her father, 61-year-old Edward Yvon LeBlanc, on Aug. 14, when he sent her a text message while he was intoxicated that said he “hated it in Athens” and intended to leave, according to Athens-Clarke County police.

She told police that her father was alcoholic and that after being evicted he was living in his car prior to seeking assistance at the Bigger Vision homeless shelter on North Avenue.

LeBlanc supposedly was going through a program at the shelter to help get him back on his feet, police said, but an employee there indicated that he had not attended the program for several weeks.

The daughter said she was concerned about LeBlanc’s welfare because it was unlike him to not respond to phone calls and texts. She told police that she checked with the Athens hospitals, but he was not a patient.

She also said that her father had been working at Pilgrim's Pride in Athens, but when police checked there they learned that the poultry plant had been shut down for two weeks.

According to police, the Bigger Vision employee said that LeBlanc had expressed a strong desire to return to his home state of Massachusetts.

LeBlanc was described as white, 5 feet, 11 inches tall and having blue eyes.

His car was said to be a dark green 2005 Volkswagen Passat with an unknown tag that leaks transmission fluid.

Anyone with information about LeBlanc’s whereabouts should call police at

(706) 613 3345.