GREENE COUNTY, Ga. — Two boaters disappeared on Lake Oconee on Saturday. Officials have recovered one of their bodies, but crews are searching the lake for the other victim.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources said its game wardens were told about a boat circling on Lake Oconee near Wallace Dam late Saturday afternoon.
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They found the boat, which no longer had power, and learned from witnesses that a man and woman had been on the boat earlier that day. Neither of them could be found in the area.
Georgia DNR launched its SONAR equipment to begin searching for the victims in Lake Oconee. They recovered the woman’s body around 9:55 a.m. Sunday.
She was identified as 49-year-old Joycelyn Nicole Wilson, a senior instructor at Spelman College. Wilson joined Spelman’s Department of Mathematics in 2007.
“We will forever be grateful for the indelible mark she has left on our Spelman community,” the school wrote in a statement.
Crews searched for the man until 6 p.m. Sunday and again from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday. So far, they haven’t been able to locate him. Game wardens resumed their search at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
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Westminster, a Christian school in Atlanta, identified the man as faculty member and coach Gary Jones.
“Gary Jones is a beloved Westminster faculty member, coach, and parent. On Sunday, we received word from his family that Gary had gone missing while spending time at an area lake. Our entire community is praying for his safe return and his family during this difficult moment,” a spokesperson for the school wrote in a statement.
According to the school’s website, Jones coaches varsity track and field.
The relationship between Wilson and Jones, as well as what happened before they disappeared is unclear.
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