Investigators said Monday they have identified the Gwinnett County man whose body was found last week in Lake Lanier.
The GBI Crime Lab was able to identify the man as Nermin Rustempasic, 42, who lived in Duluth, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office said. Rustempasic owned a boat stored at Sunrise Cove Marina, investigators said.
Around 5:15 p.m. Sept. 14, a lake-goer on a personal watercraft spotted the body about 100 yards from the shore of Old Federal Campground near Flowery Branch, investigators said. The sheriff’s office marine unit removed the body. The Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Hall County firefighters were also at the scene.
Investigators believe the man’s body had been in the water for about a week, but he had no form of identification on him, the sheriff’s office previously said.
After the remains were identified, deputies notified Rustempasic’s family members Monday. His cause of death has not been determined.
“According to the preliminary investigation, there were no immediate signs of trauma to the body and no initial evidence of foul play,” the sheriff’s office said in an emailed statement. “Autopsy results and a toxicology report from the crime lab are pending.”
It was the second time in eight days a body was found in the lake.
On Sept. 6 around 8:30 a.m., game wardens were notified of a body in the water near East Bank Park in Buford, a DNR spokesman said. Gwinnett County firefighters recovered the body of a man, later identified as Dinesh Thakorbhai Patel, 67, of Suwanee.
Investigators believe Patel may have experienced a medical emergency before falling into the water and drowning.
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