Drowning victim's name released

MURRAYVILLE - Hall County Marion Merck said Saturday morning that there would be no autopsy on the body of a man who drowned in Lake Lanier Friday afternoon.

The tragedy unfolded in a short period of time Friday afternoon on Lake Lanier in north Hall County. A 69 year old Ridgeway, South Carolina, man lost his life after slipping into the water.

Hall County Sheriff's Captain Ed Barfield said Wylie Lonnie Robertson went into the lake off of a boat dock behind a house on Ivy Circle in the Murrayville area. "We don't know whether he had a heart attack or what happened," Barfield said.

Hall County authorities, rescue units and the sheriff's office dive team responded to the incident at about 3:45 p.m. "It was not in real deep water. The water was real murky, but we do have a recovery," Barfield said.

Robertson had reportedly been visiting the people who live in the home and was apparently fishing. Merck said the death will be ruled as a drowning.