The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation into the drowning of a Tennessee teenager at Stone Mountain Park.
The body of 17-year-old Nirmal Rai was taken to the GBI crime lab for an autopsy after it was recovered by a Georgia State Patrol dive team Monday, said John Bankhead, spokesman for Stone Mountain police.
Rai, of Nashville, was visiting Nepali friends in metro Atlanta on Sunday when he drowned in a lake at Stone Mountain Park, Bankhead said. Stone Mountain Park Police and Fire Rescue had to call off a search Sunday due to high winds, Bankhead said.
Rai’s friends and family paid tribute to him on Channel 2 Action News, saying he drowned while rescuing a drowning friend.
“He’s my hero,” his cousin San Rai told Channel 2. “He saved one friend’s life. That’s big for us.”
Rai and several friends had decided to swim from Indian Island to a small island, but one friend got into distress and Rai saved him from drowning, but then couldn’t save himself, the station reported. A passing boat plucked the friend from the water but was unable to save Rai.
Park police and the state rangers used Department of Natural Resources sonar to try to locate the teen in the murky water but had to call off the search until Monday morning, when they found his body in 31 feet of water.
The Georgia State Patrol dive team recovered Rai’s body around 10 a.m.
Stone Mountain does not allow swimming it its lake because of the danger, the station reported.
About the Author
