More than a week after an Atlanta man disappeared in Lake Lanier near Holiday Marina, his body has been recovered. Kaiyan Ding, 29, was on a pontoon boat with friends on Saturday, June 18, when he went in to the lake to retrieve a hat. He went under the water and never resurfaced.
According to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, a private diving company discovered and retrieved Ding’s body around 2 p.m. Monday, June 27. Lanier Recovery Divers then called 911 and officials from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources responded to the scene. DNR contacted the Hall County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team to provide mutual aid.
Dive team officials said the victim’s body was located in 76 feet of water close to the area where he disappeared.
Emergency personnel first responded to the scene on the afternoon of June 18 after witnesses called 911. The witnesses told rescuers Ding was missing for approximately 10 minutes before they called the emergency number, officials said.
DNR Lt. Judd Smith said the initial search was complicated by underwater standing timber, high boat traffic, and choppy water.
