HALL COUNTY, Ga. — A father jumped into Lake Lanier to save his son, but neither of them made it out alive.
Hall County Fire Services and Forsyth County Fire Department divers told Channel 2 Action News they recovered the 40-year-old father and his 14-year-old son Saturday night.
"Unfortunately, this is what we see every year," Hall County Battalion Chief Chad Black said.
Black said Jose Alfredo Benitez, and his son, Carlos Amaya, of Lawrenceville, died during a family outing. He said two teens were swimming in the lake at Mountain View Park when they decided to swim across the cove to an island.
One of the teens made it across, but the other began to struggle.
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"When he turned around his brother became distressed," Black said. "That's when he saw his father coming in the other side."
Witnesses said both went under and disappeared.
Fire rescue responded to the lake around 6:30 p.m. Both victims were pulled from the lake at 8:30 p.m.
"A lot of people don't realize it slopes off," Black said. "All of a sudden it will drop off. Even our guys doing the shore searches where they put a rope around them and hit quadrants of the lake trying to feel with their feet ran into problems where it dropped off very drastically."
Fire crews said the family, including a sister who was at the lake but not involved in the incident, will be assisted by the Hall County Victim/Witness unit.
WSBTV
