A north Georgia community is grieving after a drowning incident claimed the life of a child who’d just finished his kindergarten year.
“Please keep the family of Kaiden Franklin in your thoughts and prayers. Our precious Kaiden just graduated kindergarten but passed away from a water accident yesterday at Lake Allatoona,” Model Elementary School in Rome said in a social media post. The school will be accepting donations for the family, the post said.
“Our deepest pain is having to share the passing of one of our own school babies. Our hearts are broken to have to share this news with our school family,” said the post, noting information was shared with the family’s permission.
Supporters also organized a meal train and asked, “Please keep this family in your prayers.”
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources responded to the incident around 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
“According to witnesses, a 5-year-old male was playing on a float in the lake and a few minutes later he was missing from the float,” the department said in a release. “The game wardens located the victim with side scan sonar in approximately six feet of water and the Bartow County Dive Team recovered the victim’s body at 4:35 p.m. The victim has been identified as Kaiden Franklin, age 5, of Calhoun.”
In addition, the DNR responded to a weekend drowning that claimed the life of a 20-year-old victim at a resort area on Lake Lanier.
“On Sunday afternoon, Georgia game wardens responded to the scene of a drowning at Margaritaville on Lake Lanier,” a department release said. “A 20-year-old male drowned in the swimming area. He was located by game wardens using side scan sonar and recovered by Hall County Fire. His ID will be released when family has been notified.”
Holiday weekends can be dangerous on Georgia waterways. Over Memorial Day 2021, four drowned in Georgia lakes and rivers.
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