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A 24-year-old Illinois man who was supposed to take a flight home from Atlanta was found dead days later in Alabama.

In October 2024, while working a job as a lineman in Savannah, Georgia, following the hurricanes, John Combs ended up in the hospital.

According to a report from Eliza Petry, reporter at FOX 5 IllinoisJohn called his father, Chris, and told him that he felt like he couldn’t put his thoughts together.

“I couldn’t imagine him looking scared in any type of situation, but this scared him,” Chris told Petry. “You could tell he was lonely. This wasn’t his normal team he was working with.”

Chris said John was so upset by the ordeal that he planned to return home to Rochelle, Illinois, on October 4.

“He stood in line at the (Atlanta) airport, checked this orange tool bag. The bag flew, he didn’t. And what happened from there, I I have no idea,” Chris said.

Illinois man misses flight from Atlanta, pronounced dead days later

A witness, who was supposed to be on board John’s flight on October 4, said that just before boarding, John stood up and made the following strange speech:

“My name is John Combs from Rochelle, Illinois. My whole life has been a lie. I’m not good at anything I do. I don’t want to be a lineman anymore,” Petry said, paraphrasing the witness.

Four days after this incident, Local 196 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union reported John missing.

Also on October 8, police in Montgomery, Alabama reported that a man was struck by a train on the same day as at the airport scene. They later identified the victim as John.

His family still wonders how he ended up more than 150 miles from Hartsfield-Jackson. But on October 26, they held a celebration of life in his honor.

The family didn’t immediately understand that the date they chose for his funeral had a much deeper connection.

This tragic story began decades earlier with John’s great-grandfather, James Combs.

James Combs: the “ghost” of World War II

During World War II, James Combs served in the Navy. Following the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which ended on October 26, 1944, he was declared dead.

But that wasn’t true.

“They sent a card home saying he had been killed in action and several months later here he is walking across the yard,” said Chris Combs, James’ grandson. Eliza Petry from Newschannel20.

Chris’s account of that day suggested that James’s shocked mother slapped him to make sure he wasn’t a ghost. It was a miracle.

It’s a story that James’ great-grandson John has heard many times.

John Combs (Photo obtained by Eliza Petry, FOX Illinois)

When John was just six years old, James died on October 26, 2006. This was 62 years to the day he was pronounced dead and 18 years before John’s funeral.

“I always admired my grandfather for the man he was and his service to our country,” John said in an interview with Radio WNIJ for Veterans Day in 2017.

Nearly seven years later, John would reunite with his hero.

“He always said what he would give for an hour with him,” Chris told Petry. “Now he has that and other questions about different things that he now has the real answers to.”

If you or someone you know has any information regarding the death of John Combs, please contact the Montgomery Police Department at 334-625-2651.

If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Crisis Center provides free, confidential emotional support 24/7 to civilians and veterans. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (tel:18002738255). Or text HOME to 741-741 (crisis text line)