The body of Gary Jones was recovered about noon Sunday, March 9, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said.
Keith Cormican, of Bruce’s Legacy of Wisconsin, found Jones’s body on the 29th day of the search.
Cormican said Jones’ body was about 45 feet underwater, hung up on a tree approximately 100 yards from where the body of his fiancée, Joycelyn Wilson, was recovered on Feb. 9.
"Some local sheriffs are very good to work with and some not, but this sheriff you've got in your county has been amazing," Cormican said. "And of course with Richard (Pickering, of Emergency Dive Response Team) working on it for 20-something days and then sharing what they've done, and the family getting me to come, and Richard's contacts helping all were key things so that we could keep our boat on the water longer and make this happen.
"And the community's support is just amazing; you've got a great community. So, it's not just me; it's all of us working together and pulling together that made this happen."
Law enforcement, including the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, scaled back their search efforts on Sunday, Feb. 2. Still, volunteers and search organizations continued searching daily.
Jones and Wilson, both of Atlanta, had come to Lake Oconee to celebrate Jones's 50th birthday. They launched their 11-foot Sun Dolphin around 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 8, and at 5:30 p.m., a 911 call reported that their boat was circling in the waters unoccupied.
The searches for both Jones and Wilson began immediately by DNR game wardens. After Wilson's body was found, the search for Jones intensified with each passing day as more law enforcement agencies, search and rescue organizations, and volunteers got involved.
See the March 13 and 14 editions of The Eatonton Messenger and Lake Oconee News for more details, including what the family and rescuers said.