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Rockdale County, Ga. (BFMG) — Bilal Muhammad, the 19-year-old whose disappearance sparked a multi-county search effort, has been found safe thanks to the swift and coordinated efforts of the Atlanta Police Department and the unwavering determination of his family and the community. Muhammad, who went missing on January 24, 2025, after experiencing a mental health crisis, was located Tuesday morning in downtown Atlanta.
An Extraordinary Journey
Muhammad was last seen near New Lake Road in Stockbridge, Ga. around 9pm on Friday. He was there with his father who was doing home repairs for a customer. Bilal asked to go sit in his vehicle and soon after, he realized Bilal was missing.
Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office responded around 10:15 PM and conducted a drone search of the area without results. Then on Saturday, the family of Bilal and community members searched the mostly wooded area of Panola Mountain State Park on foot.
Muhammad’s aunt, Iffat Walker asked authorities on Saturday if a “Mattie’s Call” alert had been issued and was informed it would not be done before 8 p.m. because of his age. She added that a female officer assisted and attempted to escalate the case but was unable to do so.
Matties Call, established in 2006 by Georgia’s General Assembly is an emergency missing alert for disabled and elderly persons, but can only be issued by local law enforcement agencies.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Georgia law defines ‘disabled adults’ as individuals who are developmentally impaired or who suffer from dementia or some other cognitive impairment.
Criteria for Activation
- A local law enforcement agency believes a disabled person is missing and is in immediate danger of serious bodily injury or death.
- Through its own investigation, the law enforcement agency verifies the disappearance and eliminates alternative explanations for the disabled person’s disappearance.
- Sufficient information is available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the disabled person.
- The missing disabled person is entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
- The law enforcement agency must issue a statewide broadcast to law enforcement/911 centers and contact local media regarding the missing person.
The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office issued a BOLO alert and a “Matties Call” Sunday evening, nearly 24-hours after the initial report, citing his medically fragile condition and bipolar schizophrenia diagnosis as causes for heightened concern. Family members emphasized that Muhammad, originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands, was unfamiliar with the area and may have been disoriented.
The family organized an all-day search for Sunday where they spoke to local businesses and distributed flyers while RCSO used K-9’s to attempt to track Bilal from his last known location. Eventually his shoes were found by RCSO deputies, but it appeared as though Bilal had run right out of his shoes and was presumably barefoot, running through several miles of woods and park area.
The BOLO was updated Sunday night when the family discovered a store clerk of the Food Depot along Hwy 138 & Hwy 155 said someone who may have been Bilal was there on Friday night, asking people for a ride.
After Sunday’s search concluded, his father, received a call late Sunday night from Atlanta’s Precinct 3 stating that Bilal was being transported to Grady Hospital, then another call shortly after from an officer telling him that Bilal jumped out of the ambulance and refused to be treated. His family arrived just 6 minutes later and searched the area towards Five Points, the direction Bilal was headed, but still there was no sign of Bilal anywhere.
Rockdale County Sherriff’s Office contacted the family on Monday by text to tell them Bilal had been located safely, but his family knew something was off because they had just spent the night searching in the area of downtown Atlanta where Bilal had ran towards Five Points. But, Bilal is considered an adult and has a right to his privacy and made a decision not to seek treatment” police said.
Later on Monday, the family of Bilal Muhammad tried desperately to put measures in place to find Bilal and were growing more desperate as each moment passed by considering the fragile state they knew he was in. They contacted Newton County Probate Court to attempt to issue an order of apprehension so that if authorities find Bilal, they will be able to hold him and take him for psychiatric care. Bilal did not meet the court’s criteria and the court would not issue any type of order without a known location for Bilal and he was still “missing.”
Reactivating "Matties Call" Alert
Late Monday evening, Bilal’s father was able to reactivate the Mattie’s Call alert and BOLO for Bilal swiftly by simply contacting Atlanta Police Department and requesting their assistance and resources. A new report was taken for Bilal and APD was able to reactivate those proceedures before the report was in the hands of his father. Throughout the night, there still was no reports of Bilal anywhere in the area as the family waited in hopes they would hear something.
On Tuesday around noon, a tip came in leading to Bilal’s whereabouts more than twenty miles from where he was last seen by his father. Atlanta 911 was dispatched and arrived on-scene within minutes and kept eyes on Bilal until his aunt, Iffat was able to meet him there where he was recovered safely and taken for treatment.
Muhammad made an extraordinary twenty-one mile trek from Stockbridge to Downtown Atlanta, Georgia covering the entire distance on foot, being barefoot most of the way. Bilal’s feet were tattered, but his spirit was big and his family finally had Bilal safe in their arms as we spoke to Bilal on his way to the hospital.
Law Enforcement Collaboration
The Atlanta Police Department’s quick action and expertise were instrumental in locating Muhammad. Leveraging their training and resources, officers were able to track Muhammad’s movements and bring him to safety. Family members have expressed profound gratitude for the community’s response in collaboration with the expertise of the APD, which they say played a crucial role in generating tips, spreading awareness, and locating Bilal safely.
