Friends find missing Ga. Tech student along railroad tracks

ATLANTA — A missing Georgia Tech student, found bloodied and bruised – but alive – along railroad tracks in Atlanta, will undergo surgery.

According to Jimmy Hubert's father, the student is in guarded condition and scheduled to have back surgery tomorrow.

Hubert, 24, was last seen Friday around 11 p.m. in the 900 block of Joseph Lowery Boulevard NW. Family members say he was attending a sorority event at Puritan Mill.
 
Police say the last GPS coordinates for Hubert's phone were on Auburn Avenue near DeKalb Avenue around 1 a.m. Saturday.
 
His disappearance set off a massive search by police and friends of Hubert, who eventually found him near DeKalb Avenue.
 
Authorities do not suspect foul play.

https://twitter.com/RElliotWSB/status/656150760040845312
 
Police commended Hubert's friends for their effort in the search. They said the students used technology to track the last "pings" from Hubert's cell phone.

Two of Hubert’s long time friends, Emma Jeffery and Alexandra Vanderlinde, used the “Find my IPhone” app to locate the last place his phone was before it went dead.

https://twitter.com/RElliotWSB/status/656122922550042625

The app showed them a desolate location along some railroad tracks at DeKalb Avenue and Arizona Avenue.

After some searching, Jeffery said they discovered Hubert lying face down in a ditch.

https://twitter.com/RElliotWSB/status/656116691320074241

“We were about to turn around and then there was a shaded area over in a ditch, and I said, ‘What’s that?’" Jeffery said.

“And sure enough,  it was Jimmy.  He was laying face down.  His head was turned to the side.  His eyes were open.  He wasn’t speaking at first.  I just made sure he was okay.  He opened his eyes, and then he just said, ‘Where am I? Am I missing?’ I was like, 'Yeah. You’ve been gone since Friday night.'”

Jeffery said Hubert claimed he was beaten by a group of homeless men after he left the party.  Police are investigating those claims.

Hubert’s mother is glad to have him back.

“He’s hurt, but he’s alive,” said Didi Hubert.  “He’s breathing, and he’s on morphine, so he’s resting peacefully.”

Monday night, Didi Hubert posted on Facebook, "He was mugged robbed and had the **** beaten out of him. He's in ICU with broken vertebrae, broken ribs, broken scapula, punctured lung, blood on the brain, paralyzed left side (Hopefully temporary). He's in a lot of pain and on morphine resting. He left the formal and took MARTA to get home. To set the record straight he was NOT ON DRUGS, he was NOT DRUNK. He left the formal alone and jumped on MARTA. When he got off the train he was jumped, beaten up, robbed and left for dead. End of story."

Georgia Tech released a statement thanking those who found Hubert.

“Thanks goes to the students for not giving up on their friend,” said Rob Connolly, chief of the Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD), who was among those that responded to the scene.

WSBTV