MACON, Ga. — After more than two decades, investigators still don't know much about what happened to Michael Hartness. He was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after being found shot on near Eisenhower Parkway in 1999. We spoke with his childhood friend and the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.
More than 22 years ago, at Harrison Road and Chambers Road, Michael Hartness of Macon was shot and killed. On October 1, 1999, around 9 p.m., someone shot 41-year-old Michael Hartness to death as he walked along the road.
"I was very sad when I heard about that. I actually drove out to the road," Mason said.
Tom Mason was Hartness's childhood friend. Both of them lived near Atwood Drive in west Macon. They grew up together in the late 1960s.
Mason said, "People have good things and bad things to say about Mike. My memories are of fun days growing up, and a guy that had walked the same path that we had, for a lot of years, before we didn't."
Mason, Hartness, and Bibb County Sheriff David Davis were all a part of Central High School's graduating Class of 1976. Mason and Davis say Hartness graduated from Central High and went on to Troy University on a wresting scholarship. Then, he dropped out and joined the military.
"We sort of lost touch, and was seemed some after I became a deputy, our paths would cross. He would sometimes get himself into a little trouble. He was sort of known for liking to fight sometimes," Davis said.
Neither of them know why Hartness came back to Macon, but they say, he was no stranger to law enforcement. Records from the sheriff's office showed that he was arrested more than a dozen times between 1983 and 1999 for crimes like disorderly conduct, simple battery, and aggravated assault. We could not determine how those cases were resolved. But Davis, who was a patrol sergeant at the time, says they never determined a motive for Hartness's killing.
"There was some speculation as to what might have happened, but we can't really put any concrete evidence to that," Davis said.
But Mason wants to make sure Hartness's story is not forgotten.
"Even though he may have brought a lot of the situations that led him down a dangerous path, I'd like to know they are still being sought after," Mason said.
Now, Mason says Hartness's parents are deceased, but he does have two daughters. Mason reached out to both of them, but we haven't heard anything yet.
Davis also said, at first, they had persons of interest, but "nothing panned out to implicate them." Since then, they've had no leads and no witnesses. According to the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, Hartness's case is still open and active.
The original investigator on the case has since retired and died. Anyone with information on the case can call the Bibb County Sheriff's Office at 478-751-7500.