Georgia man drowns at Little River Canyon National Preserve
A Cobb County, Georgia, man’s body was recovered Thursday after he drowned Tuesday when he and another person were swept away by the swift current of the Little River at a national preserve in DeKalb County, Alabama, officials said.
The man, 19, was with a 21-year-old woman, also from Cobb County, who survived the incident at Little River Canyon National Preserve, park service spokesman Matt Switzer said in news release.
The man and woman were swimming in the waters in the pool beneath Little River Falls around 2:15 p.m. CDT Tuesday when they became caught up in the current. The woman managed to escape, while the man did not resurface, Switzer said.
First responders were immediately dispatched and on scene within minutes. A search and rescue operation was initiated but above-average flows on the river from recent storms made it impossible for Fischer Rescue Squad divers to locate the victim, Switzer said.
High water levels again on Wednesday kept divers from searching while the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency delivered and operated an underwater remote operated vehicle to continue the underwater search. However, strong and unstable currents proved too powerful even for the vehicle and search efforts were again suspended for the evening.
River conditions let up by Thursday morning and the victim was located and recovered by Fischer Rescue Squad divers at 8:50 a.m. and extracted from the site by members of the Fischer Rescue Squad and Fort Payne Fire Department, Switzer said.
The victim’s body was turned over to the Cherokee County Coroner’s Office a short time later, Switzer said.
Cherokee County Coroner Dr. Jeremy Deaton on Thursday described the man as a Hispanic male and said his name would be released sometime Friday after next of kin have been notified.
Another drowning happened April 3 in the Little River when a 33-year-old Chilton County, Alabama, man vanished while swimming at the preserve, the Times Free Press reported previously.