Authorities confirmed a body recovered Thursday from Lake Lanier is a missing firefighter, Hall County authorities said.

DeKalb County firefighter Jason Blalock, 37, of Buford, had been missing since Saturday and was last seen in the Sunset Cove area. His vehicle was found earlier in the same area of the lake.

“We are deeply saddened by the news of the loss of one of our own,” Darnell Fullum, DeKalb County Fire Chief, said in a release. “His untimely death has affected us all.”

Blalock was a part of the DeKalb County Fire Rescue Department for 11 years and served at Fire Station 24, according to the release.

“We offer our condolences to the Blalock family and stand with them as they morn their loss,” Fullum said.

The recovery was made by the Hall County Fire Services dive team and investigators with the Department of Natural Resources.

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