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Lucas C. Allison
Dispatch Correspondent

It is with a broken heart, as are many in Wilcox County that I write this report. On Tuesday
August 29, 2023, at approximately 4pm, Sheriff Robert Rodgers was responding to a domestic
dispute in the county. He was on Highway 233 proceeding to the call; he made a radio call to
911 that he was enroute but had to slow down as it was raining so hard, he couldn’t see. 911
then called for other units to respond to Highway 233 and Mathews Road for report of an auto
crash vehicle had hit a tree. It was then reported that it was a Wilcox Sheriff’s Department
vehicle and was Wilcox 1’s vehicle. Emergency First Responders Wilcox EMS, Rochelle Fire
along with Rochelle PD and Abbeville PD who sent units to proceed to the domestic as others
responded to the crash scene. It was later learned that Sheriff Rodgers succumbed to his
injuries. Georgia State Patrol is investigating the crash. No other details available at this time.
Sheriff Rodgers was in the third year of his second term. I think it is ironic that when Sheriff
Rodgers took office in January 2017 there were severe storms in the county, and it is during a
severe storm that his service ended. Sheriff Rodgers passed doing what he loved being a
lawman and a servant to the people. Please keep the Rodgers family in prayers and also the
Wilcox Sheriff’s Department Employees and all of Wilcox County as we grieve the loss.