ROCHELLE — Being a lineman was John Combs’ dream.
After getting into underground utility work, Combs decided he wanted to become a lineman. Before he went to Ohio to American Line Builders Apprentice Training School, he wanted to practice. His father, Chris Combs, recalls how his son climbed a pole at Diamond G Ranch many times before he went off to school. A memorial sign with John’s name now adorns that same pole. The Rochelle man passed away at age 24 on Oct. 4 after being struck by a train in Montgomery, Alabama. John was in the south at that time working as a lineman helping with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in the days beforehand.
“That was his dream,” Chris Combs said. “He was hardworking. He was always in a hurry to grow up. It was almost like he knew his life was going to be short. He never wanted to waste time.”
John’s passing is shrouded in uncertainty due to missing details from the days that led up to it. And the details that are available don’t seem in character for him, Chris Combs said in an interview with the Rochelle News-Leader and Ogle County Life on Dec. 4.
On Sept. 24, John Combs flew to Louisville, Kentucky before driving to Savannah, Georgia to begin storm recovery work, which he did for about a week. On Oct. 2, he was taken to the hospital due to being disoriented, pale and sweaty, Chris Combs said.
“He called me at that time and said, 'I can't put my thoughts together. I really don't know why I'm here or what's going on,'” Chris Combs said. “And then shortly after that he took the IV out of his arm, put his clothes on and walked out of the hospital. And then I guess he started to not feel good again and he went back and he said he didn’t remember ever leaving the hospital. And through this whole thing, I'm getting reports of him just being nonrespondent and confused.”
John traveled to the Atlanta International Airport on Oct. 3 to fly home. His bag made the trip home, but John did not. Within minutes of getting on the flight, he was removed from the boarding process and airport, Chris Combs said.
“We’re told he gave a speech and said, 'You probably all know me by now, But my name is John Combs. I'm from Rochelle, Illinois. My whole life has been a lie. I'm no good at anything I do,'” Chris Combs said.
The next day, John’s location was pinged in Montgomery, Alabama by his brother, Patrick. The Combs family is still without answers on how he got there from Atlanta or why he traveled there. When Chris Combs called John to ask him where he was after realizing he wasn’t on the flight to Chicago, John replied that he was “in the woods.”
“That's all he said,” Chris Combs said. “All these conversations were really short and odd. I don't think there was ever any lengthy discussion about anything. I mean, this was what was all weird. It was simple words that were out of character for him. I wish now I had recordings of all those calls.”
The Combs family then lost contact with John and filed a missing persons report and continued their search until Tuesday, Oct. 8 when local police told them he was hit by a train and had died the previous Friday.
John Combs’ phone, wallet, and backpack were not recovered. With information from phone records and accounts, his brother and father pieced together that his final hours in the afternoon of Oct. 4 included stops in eastern Montgomery at a CVS Pharmacy, Burger King, Starbucks, a gas station and a Sunrise Extended Stay Hotel where he had a stay booked, but never checked in for.
“We've never even found out how he got from the Atlanta Airport to Montgomery,” Chris Combs said. “I think he had been in Montgomery maybe once. I mean he talked about the history and stuff around there, but it's like he never visited anything of any interest or anything. He just found all the bad places in Montgomery. And I don't get how you can be that unlucky. It just doesn't make sense.”
Since John’s death, Chris and Patrick Combs have worked to find answers to make sense of his passing. They’ve spent time reaching out to entities including the Montgomery Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the Atlanta International Airport, OSHA, and Red Rover Electric (John’s employer). They’ve also spoken with media outlets and worked on social media raising awareness of John's story in hopes that someone with information will come forward. Those with information on John Combs' case are asked to call the Montgomery Police Department at 334-625-2532 or CrimeStoppers at 334-215-7867.
“It's tearing us apart,” Chris Combs said. “We're just trying to get answers. The Montgomery Police Department has not been cooperative at all. They called me in on the Tuesday after John passed and wanted me to come in and identify him. And they'd had him since Friday and I'd reported him missing Saturday. I'm dealing with people from Savannah, Atlanta, Montgomery City and Montgomery County. It's been a full-time job for both of us. We're fighting to find answers and people are fighting us to keep us from finding the answers.”
Chris Combs said the biggest question he’d like to have answered is what happened to John in Savannah that resulted in a hospital trip and strange behavior that led up until his passing. John Combs had no history of mental health or substance abuse issues, his father said. He wonders if John could have suffered a head injury or been electrocuted or came in contact with something that altered his state of mind.
“Everything I heard from him and heard about him in his last days was completely out of character for him,” Chris Combs said. “When he called me and he couldn't put his thoughts together, you could just tell something had happened to him. If he would have been driving home in one of their trucks and fell asleep and went off the road and something happened, I guess I could come to terms with it. But this, the more I find out, for every question I get answered, I've got two more questions.”
John Combs had a successful spray foam business back home in Combs Complete Insulation. He was in the process of building a home for himself. He and his father had recently discussed the coming winter and were looking at taking off on a motorcycle ride.
John took care of cattle growing up. He spent a lot of time at Diamond G Ranch and got involved with horses and working on farms. He built motorcycles and worked on cars and trucks.
“He always could figure things out,” Chris Combs said. “He never had a fear of failure. He would approach a job, find out how to do it, and get it done. He would tear into a truck motor and fix it. It might be a multi-day process and something he had never done before, but he'd figure it out.”
The things Chris Combs will miss most about his son are, strangely enough, the things he complained about the most when his son was living with him. He’ll miss John leaving hats all around the house and leaving his dirty clothes and bag in the middle of the living room after working during a storm.
“He liked flipping that switch and watching all the lights go on,” Chris Combs said. “For him, that meant something. That he was helping other people out. It just doesn't seem fair. He was down there to help people. And nobody wants to help find out what happened. I just want to know what happened. I feel like if it'd been the other way around and it'd been me, he would already have this figured out.”
