Habersham County Sheriff’s investigators are helping a family look for a missing man who was last known to be in the Habersham County Jail.
Joel Stanley Rosenbaum, 65, of Lawrenceville was arrested on a DUI charge after running off the road on Jan. 25 and was released from jail the next day carrying only his driver’s license.
No one in his family has heard from him since.
Col. Murray Kogod of the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office said the family has asked them to help try and retrace his steps in Habersham County toward wherever he might have been headed. He was traveling on foot, as the car he was previously driving was towed and then returned to the family, Kogod said.
Harold Rosenbaum, Joel’s brother, said he was suffering from mental illness and that he tried to get him into a treatment facility.
“I think he was coming up here to kill himself in the Tallulah Gorge,” Harold said. “He left all his possessions in his car, including his coat. He was in the jail and I told them to keep him there and gave them my number. They asked him if he needed a ride or wanted to make a phone call when they released him and he said no.”
Joel walked down the hill from the jail and headed toward Clarkesville. Harold said one woman reported seeing a man that fit Joel’s description looking confused while walking through town, but the trail ends there.
“They said he was DUI, but he never had a drink or did drugs in his life,” Harold said. “He didn’t believe in that. They took a blood test but they still don’t have the results. I do think he was suffering from lack of sleep.”
Harold said the tragedy that impacted his brother is the lack of mental health treatment options around the state.
“This is my mission now,” Harold said. “I am going to make sure all our legislators know that we need better care for people with mental illnesses.”
Joel was last seen wearing a gray and red Atlanta Falcons shirt without a coat. He is 5-foot-6, 178 pounds.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to please contact Habersham County Sheriff’s investigators at 706-839-0500, or Harold Rosenbaum at 770-855-6006.