Treasure hunter finds WWII vet’s missing dog tags at Stone Mountain Park

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Chris Wells is a firefighter and EMT at Stone Mountain Park. In his free time, Wells likes to search for treasures around the expansive DeKalb County park.

Last month, he found a WWII treasure that belonged to a Georgian.

“I knew immediately what it was. It was in my shovel,” Wells said.

Wells found a military dog tag with the name “Emmett Ezzard Still” and “United States Navy” pressed into it. The tag belonged to Emmett, who returned home to DeKalb County after WWII.

“In the navy, they wore a dog tag around their neck, but also one on their boot. We believe this tag was the one on his boot because of the way it has two notches in it,” said Gary Still, Emmett’s son.

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Still said his father lost the tag at Stone Mountain Park about 75 years ago.

On Valentine’s Day, Gary Still’s mother, Bobbie, got quite a surprise after the dog tag was returned.

Bobbie was married to Emmett for nearly 70 years. She says Emmett would often wonder what happened to the tag or where he may have lost it.

The mystery was solved thanks to the treasure hunting hobby of Chris Wells.

“Yeah, he was a handsome man I thought, and I know he’s smiling down on us now. I know he’s happy,” Bobbie said.

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