Hours after he was washed down a Gwinnett County creek during heavy rains, the body of a 25-year-old man was pulled from the water Tuesday morning.
Gerone Hunter and a friend were attempting to cross Peachtree Creek from one apartment complex to another Monday evening when a sudden gush of water swept them into the water, Capt. Tommy Rutledge with the Gwinnett fire department said.
The friend managed to get out of the creek after being washed about 100 feet. But Hunter was swept away, Rutledge said.
After searching more than two hours Monday night, emergency crews from DeKalb and Gwinnett counties restarted the mission at first light Tuesday morning. Hunter's body was found just before 9:30 a.m., according to dispatch officials.
Gwinnett County Fire Department Battalion Chief Danny Rowland said Monday both men were familiar with the trail that led past the creek and the spillway that crossed the creek, and they had used the path before.
"Normally, it's just a small creek," he said. "But tonight, it was about 10 times its normal size."
A swift-water rescue team was dispatched to help Gwinnett firefighters, and the DeKalb fire department used a heavy equipment team to search a mile-long stretch of the creek that runs along the border of the two counties.
"The creek is very heavily populated," Rowland said. "If he had gotten out on his own, he would've been able to contact someone."
Hunter worked as an operating room technician for a Suwanee plastic surgeon, according to his Facebook profile. Dozens of friends and family members posted condolences to Hunter on the website.
-- Staff writer Marcus K. Garner contributed to this report.
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