A death investigation is underway after a Putnam County man’s body and car were found submerged in the Oconee River at Lake Sinclair early Saturday, according to authorities.
Hancock County Coroner Dontrelle Andrews identified the man as 26-year-old Tyrin Winkfield, of northeastern Putnam County.
Andrews said an autopsy is being done by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner’s office in Decatur to determine the cause and manner of death.
Winkfield’s wife told authorities that he had left their house around 3:30 a.m. and he was driving her car, a white Nissan Altima.
At 9:18 a.m., she called the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office to report that he was missing, according to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills.
Meanwhile, some fishermen had called to report that a white car was submerged in the water on the Hancock County side of the George F. Green Memorial Bridge at the Hancock/Putnam County line. The sign on the bridge reads Oconee River, and the car was near the Little Ferry’s boat ramp just below the bridge.
Hancock County Sheriff’s Office called in the Baldwin County Public Safety Dive Team at 7:18 a.m. They arrived about 40 minutes later.
Dive Team Chief Bradley Towe said divers found and recovered Winkfield’s body in water about 16 feet deep.
The divers then discovered the car about 40 feet away from the body. Towe said it was 9:20 a.m. when they found the car.
“When the car was pulled out of the water by a tow truck, the rear windshield was broken out of it,” Towe noted.
Andrews said when he talked to Winkfield’s wife, she was extremely devastated, but requested privacy as she and their children processed their grief.