GSU student drowns at Alabama preserve

A Cobb County man’s body was recovered after he drowned in the waters of Little River Canyon National Preserve in Alabama, the National Parks Service said.

Dustin Bryan Arroyo Garcia, 19, of Kennesaw was swimming Tuesday with a 21-yearold Cobb woman in the pool below Little River Falls when they were caught in the current, the agency said on its Facebook page. Federal parks officials said the woman was able to get out of the water while Garcia went under and did not resurface.

The falls are located within the preserve, which is managed by the federal agency.

First responders were sent to the scene, but the agency said “above-average flows on the river from recent storms, with associated low visibility in the water,” prevented divers from locating Garcia. Because nightfall was approaching, the search was called off until Wednesday.

Crews conducting a foot search below the falls determined Garcia’s body was possibly “down-river from his expected location.” An underwater remote-operated vehicle was used, but the currents were too powerful for the device to locate Garcia, the parks service added.

Conditions eased Thursday, and divers located Garcia’s body just before 9 a.m. Cherokee County, Alabama, CoronerDr.JeremyDeatonformally identified Garcia as the victim and said his cause of death was accidental drowning.

“Our hearts and our sorrow are with the family of the victim,” the agency added.

A GoFundMe page has been created to help the family pay for funeral expenses. According to the page, Garcia had just finished his first year at Georgia State University. He liked to surprise family members with new clothes, and enjoyed biking at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield

Park and playing tennis. He is survived by his mother, father, brother and sister.

“As a parent, one always lives thinking our children will outlive us. So of all the pain and heartbreaks one can experience in life, the feeling of losing a child is probably the most difficult to put into words, even more so to endure,” said the message on the GoFundMe page.