Local

Search continues for missing Lake Lanier boater

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Searchers returned to Lake Lanier Wednesday morning to search for a boater who disappeared Monday night.

Officials are now calling the search for the 47-year-old man a recovery mission.

Crews said the search has been hampered because water in the search area is cold and very murky, and rain has persisted.

Investigators found the man's boat and fishing rod, but no sign of him.

Friends of the man, who has not been identified, gathered at the command center at Little Ridge Park in Cumming to watch the search. They said he fished regularly, often at night.

The Department of Natural Resources said it got a call at 10 p.m. Monday alerting them to a boat on the lake going in circles with no driver. Since then, search teams and divers have scoured the lake with the help of SONAR and helicopters.

"Found the boat, nobody on the boat. Us, along with Forsyth County Sheriff's Office and Forsyth County Fire began the search and have been searching ever since," Sgt. Greg Colson of the Department of Natural Resources said.

A crime scene technician is processing the boat to make sure there are no signs of foul play.