LAKE LANIER, Ga. — The Georgia Department of Natural Resources confirmed that the remains of a missing 21-year-old swimmer had been recovered.
Channel 2’s Cory James was at Lake Lanier on Saturday, where the missing man’s sister identified him as Terrell Shelton.
She said she knew that ever second, minute and hour mattered as crews worked to find her brother after he went missing off shore at Robinson Park on Saturday afternoon.
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According to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Terrell Shelton was swimming with his friends to an island.
When the friends looked back, they couldn’t seem him and believed he had gone underwater without resurfacing.
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Shelton’s sister told James on Saturday that it was surprising because her brother is a good swimmer.
“Honestly I was shaking, I was freaking out. My brother is a good swimmer. How could this happen?” Calista Shelton said. “I don’t know what could have happened with the timeframe of him going to that island.”
On Sunday morning, wildlife officials told Channel 2 Action News that Game Wardens responded to Robinson Park on Lake Lanier around 2:54 p.m. Saturday in response to a possible drowning.
Working with Hall County personnel, DNR searched the area with sonar equipment, eventually recovering the victim’s remains at about 11:24 p.m. on Saturday night.
The victim was found in about 14 feet of water using a remotely operated vehicle.
DNR identified the remains as those of Terrell Shelton, 21 of Pendergrass. The cause of the drowning is still under investigation, officials said.
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