Dad Believes Deceased Daughter Led Him to Accident Scene
Laneeka Varnado, 22, mysteriously disappeared after attending the 2008 Dirty Awards at the Georgia International Congress Center on Nov. 24.
Varnardo, who was very close to her father, often called him several times a day to let him know she was okay. Her last phone call was to say she was heading to Club ESSO for the after party.
She was last seen driving a 1999 Silver Mercedes. It wasn’t like her to stay out late without notifying her father or friends of her whereabouts. Police immediately suspected foul play.
While riding his motorcycle on the C.H. James Parkway in Austell, Melvin Mackey had a feeling that his daughter had been found.
He spotted Cobb County officers loading a wrecked silver Mercedes onto a flatbed truck on the side of the highway, and he knew his daughter was inside.
“A calm came over me, and I knew,” Mackey said Sunday. “I thought, ‘That’s my child in there.’ “
Mackey had just left a fundraiser in College Park, GA where friends and strangers gathered to help raise funds to find his missing daughter.
Mackey took that route rather than the more familiar back roads he typically traveled because he thought his daughter might have done the same.
Police think Varnado was driving her Mercedes SLK230 down the C.H. James Parkway when she veered off the road and collided into a tree.
The land owner found the wreckage while walking his property and called police.
Mackey said his daughter was probably asleep behind the wheel. There were no skid marks at the spot where her car left the road.
Mackey said as he rode his motorcycle toward the fateful scene, he too dozed off but awakened just in time to avoid a head on collision with a truck.
“She was trying to call me and tell me where she was,” he said. “She sprinkled some dust in my eyes for me to doze off, and she brought me to the same path that she took.”
Police say motorists never saw the wreckage because the car came to rest down in a ravine.
Mackey said the family can now lay Laneeka to rest. “We’re gonna do it New Orleans style,” said Mackey. “We’re going to dance, we’re going to laugh, we’re going to celebrate her life. There is nothing to mourn.” (Source)
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25 Responses to “Dad Believes Deceased Daughter Led Him to Accident Scene”
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HMMMM. IM GLAD THEY FOUND HER
that is soooo sad. Was this ever on the local news? i rarely watch local news but I would think that some of us loggers would’ve heard about her missing prior to her being found. Rest in Peace
God bless the family.It’s all God’s work.
Very sad - Stylerazzi, yes it was on the news.
Mackey said the family can now lay Laneeka to rest. “We’re gonna do it New Orleans style,” said Mackey. “We’re going to dance, we’re going to laugh, we’re going to celebrate her life. There is nothing to mourn.”
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They about to bust that 2nd line!!!! That’s what I’m talking about! I miss New Orleans!
My prayers go out to the Mackey family.
GOD BLESS HER. I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THAT IS, IN AUSTELL.
What the hell is he talking about “there is nothing to mourn”? She was 22, healthy and her life stopped early because she went to the Dirty Awards. That ain’t **** to be happy about
This story is so sad. I heard the father on Warren B. show last week he sounded so sad. I am glad he has some closure and can move forward now.
^ Most people don’t mourn like others.We all have a way of grieving.
May The Almighty cover and keep them!
#8 said:
What the hell is he talking about “there is nothing to mourn”?
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Maybe she had already lived a life that was fulfilled, happy and prosperous. Who knows?
I was so sorry to hear about this story, and the outcome. It was refreshing to see the close relationship she had with her father.
ckarinwhite Says:
I was so sorry to hear about this story, and the outcome. It was refreshing to see the close relationship she had with her father.
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You see what I see. It means that there were no regrets. There is nothing to find closure in when you live your life right.
What the hell is he talking about “there is nothing to mourn”?
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A lot of people believe that death is not to be mourned. They feel this is hell we are in now and she is with her creator, happy and without pain or worries. I understand totally what you mean though dblaq. I would be devastated, but some people don’t look at it like that…
Thanks for the Update … So Sad … she was Blessed to be so close to her Fam.
Wow thats so sad, and I was at the Dirty Awards, My condolences goes out to her family.
imo there isn’t anything to mourn. her family now knows where she is (a better place) and she did not die being tortured, murdered, beaten etc.
god bless this family and may god wrap his every loving arms around them during this time.
Im glad the father found peace - some people never get that when they lose a loved one.
as long as he’s at peace with it, really -that is all that matters, there was no foul play just an unfortunate accident.
Nobody can change the fact that she’s dead, she’s at rest, and what else is there for her family to do-in my opinion if this man chooses to celebrate his daughter’s life, I really don’t see anything wrong with that.
God bless them….
Her life is to be celebrated and not mourned, he had her for 22 wonderful years by reading the info above.
Hmmm - I dont know bout that last line “Nothing to mourn”. A life was cut short no matter if you believe we living in hell or not. He said there is nothing to mourn but yet he broke down on the radio crying about it. Maybe he was crying then cause she was still missing. I’m confused. I know death is a part of life but I would mourn if I lost a loved one - esp if I outlived my child. Now a loved one that was suffering - I can understand “they are no longer suffering” mentality - but even then you still mourn. Oh well - maybe its just me.
Very sad story, but I am glad that the father and family are spiritually grounded….to those that believe he is off his rocker you have to understand his religious beliefs…i’m speculating that he is a Christian since most Christians call “funerals” Homegoing Celebrations….the belief is when it’s your time it’s your time we are put on this earth to serve a purpose…the human in us assumes it will be a purpose that takes us to gray hair but only God knows it may be 102 yo and or it may be 2yo…in God’s eyes there is no wrong time to take his child
17melinla Says:
Im glad the father found peace - some people never get that when they lose a loved one.
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I know, like the military mom who won’t go away. Her son would not have wanted his mom to take things to the extreme. She pickets out side of Bush’s vaction spot. We as parents can understand her pain for losing a child due to war a little bit. Did her son join the service or was he already in there when the war started? Not that it makes much of a difference because her child is dead. I do beleive that to grieve or to continue to mourn does have to do with how the child died.
Ok, so how do anybody know that she didn’t suffer??? She may been alive for a day but since nobody knew that she went off the road. Maybe she died a terrible death? Dirty Awards were like what 2 weeks ago?
I’m glad that this family can finally rest their beautiful child. God is good all the time!!!