Man dies at Lake Lanier, marking 3rd drowning in reservoir this week

A game warden for the Department of Natural Resources scours Lake Lanier searching for a drowning victim this week.

Credit: Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Credit: Georgia Department of Natural Resources

A game warden for the Department of Natural Resources scours Lake Lanier searching for a drowning victim this week.

Yet another swimmer drowned in the waters of Lake Lanier on Friday.

A dive team from the Forsyth County Fire Department pulled the body of a 20-year-old man from the lake around noon, according to Department of Natural Resources spokesman Lt. Judd Smith.

The man was recovered in 30 feet of water near Vans Tavern Park in Forsyth County, authorities indicated.

Smith said the victim was swimming with friends near the courtesy dock of the boat ramp when he went underwater and never resurfaced.

The Department of Natural Resources did not release the man’s name.

He became at least the third man presumed dead after drowning in Lake Lanier this week. State officials are still searching for Kaiyan Ding, a 29-year-old man who went missing after he jumped off a boat near Holiday Marina on June 18.

On Thursday, a dive team with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office recovered the body of a 61-year-old man who appears to have drowned while bathing in the lake next to the dock at Longwood Park in Gainesville, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

The trend doesn’t appear to be confined to metro Atlanta. Two children and an adult drowned Thursday night in Clarks Hill Lake in Augusta. The three victims were siblings, according to WJBF, a television station affiliated with ABC in Augusta. Their bodies were turned over to the GBI, which will determine the causes of death, the Department of Natural Resources said.