The search for a 20-year-old man who went missing Monday afternoon while swimming across the Chattahoochee River in Cobb County has been suspended until Friday, authorities said.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Cobb’s Underwater Search and Recovery Team spent much of Wednesday scouring the river but were unable to find the missing swimmer, officials from both agencies confirmed.
After searching Monday and Tuesday, game wardens and the dive team returned to the Chattahoochee on Wednesday morning, but currents had become too strong due to overnight storms, making it unsafe for divers to go in, according to Cobb officials.
The recovery effort was suspended until Friday morning to allow the storm runoff to subside so divers and sonar teams can be effective.
Crews have been trying to locate the man since Monday afternoon when the DNR received reports of a possible drowning near Akers Mill Road at the Cobb-Fulton County line. State officials said the swimmer, whose name has not been publicly released, was trying to swim across the river to a popular diving rock. He went under and never resurfaced.
Searchers combed the river in boats Wednesday, using sonar scanning, but the conditions were too difficult due to the “strong river flow, floating debris and submerged rock structures,” DNR spokesman Mark McKinnon said in an email.
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