‘I can’t fathom it’: Neighbor remembers former deputy killed in Georgia flooding

Share Add Us On Google Add as a preferred source on Google ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A former Cobb County sheriff’s deputy was killed after being swept away by floodwaters near Old CCC Camp Road in Murray County, south of McCaysville, where flooding also occurred. The Murray County coroner identified her as Julie Barrs. Barrs’ neighbor, Dottie Billingsley, said Barrs tried to drive through rushing water late Wednesday. “Julie was screaming, ‘Help me, please help me,’ and the stream was so, I mean it was like Niagara Falls,” Billingsley said. Billingsley said another neighbor tried to grab a rope while Barrs clung to her seat belt. She said the bridge over the water was locked, so Barrs had to drive through the stream. Billingsley said she saw Barrs’ car there Thursday morning. “There was a tree laying across the hood up against the windshield and a lot of debris all around,” Billingsley said. Billingsley told Atlanta News First that Barrs’ body was found 2 1/2 miles downstream. “I can’t fathom it, it’s very very hard,” she said. A former colleague of Barrs’ on the Cobb County SWAT team described her as the kindest person and someone who would give others the shirt off her back. “Julie was one of a kind,” Rachel Gondek said. “A great friend and mentor to many in law enforcement and beyond. She imparted so many valuable lessons that I’ll never forget ... Julie never gave up, in anything.” Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.