Call about capsized boat on the Chattahoochee was false
Scared teenagers on a rafting trip down the Chattahoochee River triggered an emergency response from four agencies with a call for help Friday afternoon.
The call, which first went to Forsyth County, involved a capsized boat.
Around 1 p.m., Capt. Tommy Rutledge of the Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services announced that there were "possibly persons unaccounted for" in the boating accident.
Gwinnett and Forsyth counties sent swiftwater rescue crews to the river near McGinnis Ferry Road. The city of Johns Creek sent firefighters, and officers from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources responded to the scene.
But there was no capsized boat, and there wasn't really a boat, either, Rutledge later said.
"It was a group of teenagers on different rafts that separated, and they began to panic," he said around 2 p.m. He's not sure who called Forsyth for help. "Luckily, it ended up just being a panic call.".
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
