Searchers on Thursday located and recovered the body of a man who vanished while swimming in Lake Lanier Saturday.
At approximately 9:30 a.m. on August 3, game wardens recovered the body of Leonardo Martinez during shore sweeps near Van Pugh Park South. The 27-year-old’s body was located on the surface, approximately 30 yards from shore, says Mark McKinnon of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Martinez was swimming from a boat near the park when he went underwater and did not resurface. Hall County Fire Services assisted with the search operation.
Martinez is the third person to die in Lake Lanier in a week. Two other men died in unrelated incidents.
Also, on Saturday, July 30, DNR game wardens and Gwinnett and Hall County fire personnel responded to a drowning near East Bank Park. After a daylong search using sonar and a remotely operated vehicle, they located the man’s body in 46 feet of water. Authorities identified him as 61-year-old Tracey Stewart of Stone Mountain.
On Thursday, July 27, a 24-year-old man died after being electrocuted when he jumped off a dock into Lake Lanier in Forsyth County.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources told news outlets that a neighbor was able to pull the man from the water. He was taken to Northside Forsyth Hospital, where he later died.
WAGA-TV reported that the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Thomas Shepard Milner.
