LAKE LANIER ISLANDS - The man who drowned in Lake Lanier Tuesday night while trying to retrieve a beach ball was 49-year-old Gideon Massey Burt of Lawrenceville.
Hall County Fire Chief David Kimbrell says divers recovered Burt's body in about 32 feet of water about 7:15 after they were called to the scene near the campground at Lake Lanier Islands near Shoal Creek.
"...Hall County dispatch received a call of a missing man last seen in the water near the campground at Lake Lanier Islands," Kimbrell said. "Hall County units arrived and got a report of a 49-year-old man who had swam out to retrieve a beach ball. The male reportedly called for help and then was not seen any more."
Col. Jeff Strickland, chief deputy for the Hall County Sheriff's Office, says Burt was camping with his wife and two children when he went under.
(Members of the AccessNorthGa.com news staff contributed to this story.)
Sunday
June 29th, 2025
1:45PM
