Divers recover body of rafter who went missing on Lake Lanier in May, GA officials say
The body of a man who went missing on Lake Lanier in May was recovered over the weekend, authorities said.
Crews pulled 56-year-old Xi Zhu from the Shoal Creek area of the lake after 3 a.m. Saturday, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources told McClatchy News in a statement Tuesday. Game wardens, along with Hall County sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and divers responded to the area after reports of a body floating in the water.
Zhu, of Marietta, went missing May 29 on an inflatable raft. He was trying to retrieve an oar when he left the raft and went under, WXIA reported, citing authorities. He never resurfaced.
Zhu’s family and the relatives of a South Carolina man who disappeared on the lake in April had previously hired a private dive team in hopes of finding their loved ones, according to the news station. Six people have already drowned on Lake Lanier this year, including a 55-year-old paddle boarder who “became tired and went under” after going in after a pool noodle, McClatchy News reported.
“It is a very large lake, and I believe the busiest lake east of the Mississippi,” Mark McKinnon, spokesman for Georgia DNR’s Law Enforcement Division, said in April. “There’s about 8 million visitors a year to Lake Lanier ... so there’s a lot of traffic.”
Lake Lanier is located in north Georgia, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta.
This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Divers recover body of rafter who went missing on Lake Lanier in May, GA officials say."