Carrollton man found in a Haralson County lake
A Carrollton man with connections to Polk County lost his life last week after trying to cool off in a Haralson County lake and went missing for more than a day.
Haralson County Deputy Coroner Chase Croft said that 46-year-old Christopher Leon Prather was found Monday morning, July 23 around 7 a.m. following a search by officials that began on Saturday evening.
Prather’s remains were transported to the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur for autopsy, and his body was later released to Litesey Funeral Home in Cedartown, where funeral services were held over the weekend after press time on Saturday.
He had jumped into the lake at VFW Post 7402 on Highway 120 in Buchanan to cool off on Saturday, July 21 after he and a friend were left out on the water where they sat and waited for their boat motor to cool off around 6:40 p.m.
Buchanan Police Lt. D.S. Ratner said that as soon as Prather hit the water, he underwent some kind of distress and began splashing around before he went under a second time and wasn’t seen again by his friend on the boat.
“Within the hour, we had Haralson County Rescue on the scene and searching for Mr. Prather,” Ratner said. “We also had help from the Carroll County Dive and Rescue Team, Douglass County Dive and Rescue team, the DNR, Georgia State Patrol and many others.”
He said at one point during the search Saturday night and through Sunday, emergency officials had six boats and dive teams out on and in the lake searching for Prather.
Prather surfaced July 23 around 7 a.m., Croft said.
No immediate information was available at press time about the results of the autopsy and what caused Prather to get into medical trouble after he jumped into the water.
See Prather’s obituary on this week’s edition of the Standard Journal on Page A7 for more about him.
“Within the hour, we had Haralson County Rescue on the scene and searching for Mr. Prather,” Ratner said. “We also had help from the Carroll County Dive and Rescue Team, Douglass County Dive and Rescue team, the DNR, Georgia State Patrol and many others.”