A 61-year-old Gwinnett man apparently fell out of his boat in a treacherous section of the Chattahoochee River and drowned Saturday, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office reported.
Some fishermen reported a corpse submerged in about four to five feet of water near the Forsyth/Fulton county line Saturday afternoon. Georgia Department of Natural Resources rangers and Forsyth County fire and rescue personnel responded and pulled Robert Allen Hancock, of Lawrenceville, from the river.
A small jon boat was found about 300 yards downriver from the body, DNR said.
“The initial investigation revealed no signs of foul play,” Forsyth County Sheriff’s Deputy Robin Regan said in a press release. “Detectives believe that Hancock may have fallen from his boat.”
Boater Joe DeLoach told Channel 2 Action News that the area where Hancock was found, near the McGinnis Ferry boat ramp, can be dangerous.
“You got one little gap you can go through, and you hit it wrong, you are going to flip over,” he said.
An autopsy has been scheduled with the GBI crime lab. No further information was immediately available.
DNR said that as of late Saturday, Hancock’s death was the only boating-related fatality in Georgia this holiday weekend. Eight cases of boating under the influence had been reported statewide.
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