After three days of exhaustive searching, officials Monday recovered the body of a fisherman who drowned in the Cornelia Water Reservoir.
“The man’s body surfaced at 11:20 this morning while game wardens and the GSP dive team were searching,” says Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division spokesperson Mark McKinnon. The dive team recovered the man’s body. Officials identified him as 50-year-old Mark Anthony Hicks of Baldwin.
The Habersham County Coroner’s Office transported Hicks’ body to the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. “The cause and manner of death are pending further investigation,” says Coroner Kasey McEntire.
Hicks was last heard from late Thursday, July 22, when he reportedly told a friend he was going fishing. Severe weather swept through the area that night. Early Saturday, July 24, the friend called Habersham County 911 to report him missing. He found a capsized boat near the dam at the reservoir and some of the missing fisherman’s personal belongings nearby.
Habersham County 911 dispatched emergency crews to the scene off Wilson Road. Hicks’ truck was still parked at the boat ramp when officials arrived. That led to an intense, two-and-a-half-day search involving multiple agencies from local and state jurisdictions.
After an initial sweep of the shoreline and surrounding woods came up empty on Saturday, the search moved to the water. Game wardens with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources deployed sector and side-scan sonar from their boat as a State Patrol helicopter searched overhead. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency and Homeland Security assisted in the aerial search with a drone. K9 units from Cornelia and Fannin County searched the reservoir and shore. On Sunday, the Stephens County Search and Rescue Dive Team conducted underwater searches.
Some Cornelia firefighters and local residents volunteered their time and personal resources, including a boat, to support operations. Many others donated food and water for first responders who spent over 28 hours, much of it in scorching heat, to locate Hicks.
“Without the help of everyone involved, the recovery would not have been possible,” says Cornelia Fire Chief Billy Joe Jenkins, Jr. “While this is not the outcome, we ever hope for, we are glad to bring closure to friends and family of the victim.”
The coroner could not estimate how long it might take for results to be returned from the State Medical Examiner’s Office. “We will wait on the coroner’s report to determine if an investigation is warranted,” McKinnon says. According to Jenkins, the family has asked for privacy during this difficult time. They set up a Go Fund Me page to help with funeral expenses.
