Grammy-nominated artists say local bus driver disappeared with $10K deposit

A gospel group that got stuck in Atlanta after Hurricane Harvey hit now says their bus driver left them stranded.

Channel 2's Rikki Klaus met gospel artists the Walls Group last month at a Hurricane Harvey relief concert in Alpharetta.

They had just come from Charlotte, the first stop on their 19-city tour.

“Right after that, our bus driver abandoned us, and he left us here in Atlanta.”

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Parents and managers Alicia and Roger Walls showed us a contract, which outlines the down payment for 28 days of sleeper bus services $10,000 dollars.

They say the driver was offended they did not want to take his advice, and quit.

The Walls say the driver kept the money.

“You didn’t fulfill an obligation contractually. It’s just sad,” Alicia Walls said.

The group canceled several tour stops and could not make it home to Houston, which was flooded.

“We couldn’t go back because of the hurricane,” Roger Walls explained.

They incurred costs for housing, travel and food for the team.

“We spent $12,000 on 13-14 people to live during the time we couldn’t go back to Houston,” said Roger Walls.

Mr. And Mrs. Walls hired an attorney to sue and a private investigator to find the bus driver. They say he won’t communicate with them anymore, and they cannot find his address.

“Without his information, we can’t serve him. We sent him an email basically with all the receipts and the contracts and stuff basically, and we can’t find him,” Alicia Walls said.

Klaus reached out to the bus driver for comment but did not hear back.

Cox Media Group