DeKalb County Police recover body of missing 70-year-old woman from lake

DEKALB COUNTY, GA— Joanne Howell, a 70-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia who was reported missing on Aug. 7, was found deceased at Misty Lake in Ellenwood, DeKalb County Police said on Monday, Aug. 10. 

Police and fire crews responded to a reported drowning on Monday around 7 a.m. in the 3900 block of Misty Lake in Ellenwood. Water rescue teams entered the small, private lake and recovered the body, confirming shortly before noon that it was Joanne Howell, the subject of a Mattie’s Call.

The medical examiner was on scene around 9 a.m. to transport the body for autopsy. 

Howell was last seen around 6 p.m. on last Friday in the 3600 block of Satellite Terrace, police said. Her body was recovered from the lake, about a half mile from her home. 

Howell’s family members said they had searched the area throughout the weekend before receiving the heartbreaking news from authorities on Monday. 

Howell’s daughter, Jacquelyn Daniel, told Fox 5, the family assumed Howell had walked outside to take a smoke. They reported her missing when she did not return.  Daniel said in addition to her mother suffering from  Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, Howell had very limited mobility due to two total hip replacements and rheumatoid arthritis. She said the farthest that her mother  would walk is to the stop sign not far from the house.

DeKalb County Police said the investigation is ongoing. An official cause of death has not been determined, police said.