The body of the fisherman who was pulled from a private pond in Forsyth County Sunday afternoon has been identified.
28-year-old Saul Sanchez, of Roswell, was pulled from the body of water around 3:10 p.m. a day after a friend reported seeing the man go under the surface of the water.
Forsyth County Fire Department Division Chief Jason Shivers called the incident a "witnessed drowning."
"He did, in fact, see his friend who was fishing on the lake struggling on the surface of the water and before he could get access to him to render aid, unfortunately, the gentleman went under the surface," Shivers said.
Shivers said the two had agreed to meet at the pond, located off Dahlonega Highway in the northern part of the county, late Saturday afternoon. He said Sanchez could not swim, so they aren't sure why he chose to venture onto the pond in a boat prior to his friend's arrival.
"For reasons that we don't know, he fell out of the boat at some point," Shivers said.
While the search for Sanchez began around dusk Saturday evening, Shivers said crews couldn't search for long because of darkness and the terrain in the area.
"At its deepest, it's probably no more than 20-feet deep, but he was in an area that's relatively shallow at six feet, but regardless, you can drown in inches of water, especially if you can't swim," Shivers said.
He said the cold temperature of the water and the fact that Sanchez was fully clothed made it more difficult for him to stay above the surface.
In addition to divers from the Forsyth County Fire Department, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, the Georgia State Patrol Aviation Unit, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and a volunteer non-profit group Alpha Team K9 Search and Rescue assisted with the recovery effort.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab will be performing an autopsy.
