GILMER COUNTY, Ga. — Crews have returned to Carters Lake in north Georgia to search for a missing kayaker from Florida.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources were called to Carters Lake when a backpack was located floating near the dam on Wednesday.
They found a passport in the pack belonged to Sean Michael Cunningham from Florida. Game wardens contacted the Alachua County Florida Sheriff’s Office, who did a welfare check at Cunningham’s home.
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Authorities learned that Cunningham was on a camping trip in Georgia. They reached out to the emergency contact listed on his driver’s license. That contact told law enforcement he had not heard from Cunningham in a couple days.
Apparently, Cunningham was on the phone with a friend Tuesday while storms were in the area. Cunningham’s phone went dead.
Several agencies in North Georgia have been searching Carters Lake since Tuesday. DNR and Murray County searched an area of the lake around two miles long and one mile wide with boats using SONAR. The depth has been around 350 feet.
Crews have also search the area by air, but Cunningham nor his kayak have been located.
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