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Honestly Local
Report details Ga. 365 crash, deaths of 5
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Corvette traveling more than
100 mph on Ga. 365 flew through
the air for almost 200 feet. A Ford
Explorer carrying two children
under the age of 10 acted almost as
a “takeoff ramp.”
These are some of the details in
a Georgia State Patrol Specialized
Collision Reconstruction Team
report on the July 16, 2023 wreck
that killed five people.
But there are still details from
the crash that investigators believe
cannot be known.
The July 16, 2023 wreck
killed Avonlea Holtzclaw, 29, of
Dahlonega, and her two children,
7-year-old Colton and 5-year-old
Madeline. Holtzclaw was married
to Hall County Sheriff's Office
Deputy Patrick Neil Holtzclaw.
Holtzclaw was trying to cross
Ga. 365 in a Ford Explorer to head
west on Mt. Zion Road when she
was hit by a Chevrolet Corvette.
The two men in the Corvette —
Mitchell Boggs, 58, of Marietta
and Seyhan Kilincci, 51, of
Roswell — also died at the scene.
Boggs owned the Corvette,
but the Georgia State Patrol's
Specialized Collision
Reconstruction Team is not sure
who was driving the car more than
100 mph on the 65-mph highway.
Georgia State Patrol finalized the
report late last month and released
it to The Times through an open
records request Tuesday, March 5.
After the initial impact, the Ford
Explorer started rolling over on its
driver's side and created a “takeoff
ramp for the Corvette to become
airborne,” according to the report.
The Corvette flew through the
air for 194 feet, while the Ford
Explorer slid 142 feet. Both cars
were engulfed in flames.
The investigators wrote that
the “catastrophic damage and
fire” to both vehicles meant the
reconstruction team could not get
crash data from either vehicle.
The minimum speed calculated
for the Corvette was between 106-
120 mph.
“The speed that has been
calculated is the bare minimum
speed the Corvette was traveling,”
the report stated. “The catastrophic
damage the Corvette sustained
could not be used in the speed
calculation. It is not mathematically
possible to account for the severity
of damage it sustained.”
There was 733 feet of sight
distance from the center of the
concrete crossover, which the
Corvette would have traveled in
4.7 seconds.
“It is to be noted the Corvette is a
very low-profile vehicle and close
to the ground,” according to the
report. “Especially when compared
to other motor vehicles on the
roadway. This would make it more
difficult to clearly see and interpret
the extreme speed the Corvette was
See Wreck 13A
Taking action
Rob Moore Habersham County photo
Habersham County Emergency Services Battalion Chief Brandon Whitney and other personnel haul up the
stokes basket carrying the injured driver.
Firefighters pull woman from car after crash into ravine
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A woman was rescued Monday,
March 4, after a wreck sent her car
into a Habersham County ravine
and trapped her inside the vehicle,
according to authorities.
The single-vehicle wreck happened
around 5:30 p.m. Monday on Crane
Mill Road near Mud Creek Road.
Personnel from Habersham County
Emergency Services, Baldwin Fire,
Cornelia Fire, the Habersham County
Sheriff's Office and a Gainesville Fire
unit in the area responded to the call.
Habersham County Emergency
Services Chief Brandon Whitney
said the woman “ran off the road
approximately 70 feet down an
embankment.”
“It appears her car has rolled
multiple times,” Whitney said in a
news release. “She was entrapped
inside the vehicle. The patient did have
to be extricated, the door removed,
and she was removed from the vehicle
at this time and secured in a stokes
basket with a backboard.”
The woman was transported to the
hospital.
Georgia State Patrol is investigating
the wreck.
Provided by Habersham County
Fire department personnel from Gainesville, Baldwin and Habersham
County tend to a trapped driver inside her vehicle on Crane Mill Road
near Mud Creek Road.
Hall medical
providers
impacted by
cyberattack
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
One of the most serious cyberattacks on the healthcare
system in U.S. history has not spared medical providers in
Northeast Georgia.
Change Healthcare, which connects insurance compa
nies and medical providers and processes 14 billion trans
actions a year, was breached Feb. 21 by what the American
Hospital Association has called “the most significant cyber
attack on the U.S. health care system in American history.”
“Change Healthcare is the predominant source of more
than 100 critical functions that keep the health care sys
tem operating,” APIA wrote in a letter urging Congress to
take action. “Significant portions of Change Healthcare's
functionality have been crippled. As a result, patients have
struggled to get timely access to care and billions of dollars
have stopped flowing to providers, thereby threatening the
financial viability of hospitals, health systems, physician
offices and other providers.”
Northeast Georgia Health System, which serves more
than one million people across more than 18 counties, said
in a statement Wednesday that the hack has impacted their
pharmacy services and led to delays in processing about $2
million in insurance claims.
“NGHS typically uses Change Healthcare to help us
process some pharmacy benefits, but our IT Security teams
See Hack 13A
Job fair set
for April 11
at civic center
Those seeking work or a better job can meet with
potential employers at the Greater Hall Chamber of
Commerce's annual spring job fair.
The Spring Job Fair & Career Expo, set for 10 a.m.-2
p.m. Thursday, April 11, will feature 70-plus employ
ers looking for workers. The fair will take place at the
Gainesville Civic Center, 830 Green St.
The event is free, and job seekers can complete appli
cations on site. Exhibit space costs $350 for chamber
members and $450 for non-members.
Coordinating the event are the chamber, Lanier Tech
nical College and the Georgia Department of Labor.
More information can be found online at ghcc.com.
Jeff Gill
Liquor store could replace old DUI school in Oakwood
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Class is over at the DUI and
defensive driving school.
Next on tap could be a liquor
store.
Oakwood City Council has voted
to rezone a .28-acre site at 4516
McEver Road to a commercial
designation allowing for a liquor
store, among other uses.
“The liquor store was brought up
only because that is what was under
discussion by the buyer and had
previously been discussed at the
(Oakwood Planning Commission)
meeting,” said Steve Gilliam, a
Gainesville lawyer who served as
the rezoning applicant.
“No decision has been made
as to the final use. ... The buyer
is looking for uses that would not
require tearing the building down.”
The property went through
a recent sale. The new owner,
Michael Brunner, of Atlanta-
based Deal Team LLC, declined
comment.
The inside of the building will
be “refurbished for commercial
retail use,” states a letter from
Gilliam to Oakwood. “There will
be no destruction or removal of
the existing building footprint or
exterior walls. The exterior will be
painted with updated colors and
windows.”
The history of the property
wasn't available, but Hall County
See DUI 13A
An old DUI
school could
become a liquor
store, with a
recent rezoning
approval in
Oakwood.
Jeff Gill
The Times
