Their families and community held out hope that two best friends that never returned from a fishing trip would be found alive.
But on the ninth day of searching, the story took a tragic turn Friday afternoon. Within 15 minutes, divers pulled the bodies of the two missing 20-year-olds from Lake Lanier, about 30 feet away from a boat dock, the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office said.
The bodies of Mason Cox and David Wood, missing since Jan. 2, were found in the area of Fredericks Cove, according to Major Tony Wooten with the sheriff’s office. Investigators have not determined what happened to the men, but there were no initial signs of trauma, Wooten said by phone Friday night. Autopsies will be conducted on both men, he said.
Cox and Wood took an early-morning fishing trip and apparently return to one of their homes, police have said. But after that, the two best friends seemed to have vanished, even leaving the fishing poles behind.
The friends’ mothers pleaded publicly for help in locating their sons, stating it was unlike either of them to be out of touch with families.
“My son left his cell phone, his wallet, the shirt that he was wearing that night, it’s all in his room,” LeaAnne Cox, Mason’s mother, told reporters. “His car is here. He’s just gone.”
Investigators had been searching the lake for several days, but efforts were hampered earlier in the week due to icy conditions. The GBI assisted in the investigation.
Using sonar equipment, Department of Natural Resources investigators identified possible “targets” for divers to search Friday, Wooten said. The Dawson sheriff’s office then contacted the Hall County Sheriff’s Office dive team, he said.
Hall County divers located the body of one man around 5:30 p.m., Wooten said. The second man was pulled from the lake about 15 minutes later.
More than 12,000 people joined a Facebook group called "Help Find Mason Cox and David Wood," and hundreds posted comments offering prayers and support for the families.
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