Police searching for persons of interest after missing man found dead inside car

ATLANTA — Atlanta police are working to learn what happened in the moments before a missing Atlanta man was found dead in his car outside of a Dairy Queen.

Police say John David Woodall was last seen at Grady High School at 6:30 p.m. on August 3 for a meeting with his daughter’s teacher.

His daughter says he told her that he was going to take her laptop to a nearby store to get fixed, but did not say exactly where. He texted her just after 7 p.m. to tell her he had dropped it off. That was the last time his family heard from him.

There were also several charges on their credit card statement without addresses that were made after he spoke to his family.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

When he had not returned the next day, Woodall’s wife reported him missing.

Just before 8:45 p.m. that evening, officers were called to the parking lot of Dairy Queen on North Ave. to find a man dead in a car. He was later identified as Woodall.

Officers said the doors to the 2020 Toyota RAV-4 he was driving were locked. When paramedics were able to get inside, they did not find any obvious signs of trauma.

His cause of death has not been released.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Police are now releasing surveillance footage that shows two men in the parking lot at the same time Woodall’s car was there. In the video, two men can be seen walking out of the parking lot and turning right before coming back to the parking lot.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information.

Anyone with information on the identities or whereabouts of these people are asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Police ID victim in deadly Kroger parking lot shooting, say it was ‘not a random act’ Police are releasing more details in a deadly shooting in the parking lot of a Metro Atlanta Kroger grocery store.

©2021 Cox Media Group