Gainesville police recovered a woman's body from Lake Lanier near Lanier Point Park Saturday afternoon.
Sergeant Kevin Holbrook with the Gainesville Police Department said a boater spotted the body in the water and contacted authorities at around 4:00. The body was found in the same area that police had been searching for 23-year-old Lizeth Ruiz who went missing on May 18th. Holbrook said it is unclear whether the body found is connected to the missing Gainesville woman.
"We cannot confirm a positive identification on the body which we have recovered," Holbrook said. "We can confirm that it is a female subject and it is the same area of proximity to which we have been searching the past week."
The body was sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab where it is set to undergo autopsy next week. Holbrook said they are hopeful the autopsy will help with the investigation of Ruiz's disappearance.
"We've not really had a lot of information to go on throughout this case, other than she was last seen at Lanier Point Park on an island," Holbrook said. "That island is just over 20 acres so this investigation has been challenging."
