Authorities have recovered the body of a drowning victim who went missing in Lake Lanier Saturday evening and identified him as a Roswell man.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources Public Affairs Officer Mark McKinnon said the body of Walter Juarez Guardado, age 37, was located by SONAR around noon Monday in about 20 feet of water at East Bank Park near Buford.
Guardado reportedly went missing after swimming from his jet ski around 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Emergency crews from both Hall and Gwinnett counties along with the DNR had been searching for Guardado since that time.
Original story posted 10:00 a.m. Oct. 22:
Emergency crews from multiple jurisdictions are searching for a man who jumped off a jet ski and into Lake Lanier near Buford Saturday evening.
Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services Lt. Andy Lane said the man reportedly jumped off the vehicle to attempt to swim to shore at East Bank Park off of Buford Dam Road around 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
"The caller to 911 stated that her boyfriend jumped off the jet ski and she did not see him anymore," Lane said. "We arrived on scene and started doing a reconnaissance of the area."
A grid search of the man's last known area was done by both Gwinnett and Hall county emergency crews, but he was not found. At dark, the boat search was paused and a police K9 searched the shoreline. That search also failed to locate the man.
"Currently, we are treating this as a missing persons, as we do not really know the whereabouts," Lane said.
The search efforts resumed at 8:00 a.m. Sunday with Gwinnett and Hall county crews being aided by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
The man's name has not been released.
