Man fishing with friends drowns when their boat sinks in river, Georgia officials say
A fisherman didn’t make it back to shore with his friends after their boat sank on a north Georgia river, officials say. Days later, crews recovered his body.
Game wardens responded around noon on Friday, April 21, to a possible drowning on the Coosa River near the Old River Road Boat Ramp in Floyd County, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources.
A 38-year-old man went under and didn’t resurface, authorities said. He was fishing with two friends when their bass boat began to take on water and sink.
All three tried swimming to the bank, but only two of them made it to safety, Georgia DNR said.
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including Game Wardens, Floyd County EMA and Georgia State Patrol, spent the weekend searching for the missing boater, according to officials. On April 23, crews found the victim using sonar and, with assistance from GSP’s dive team, retrieved his body at 10 a.m.
The man who drowned was identified as 38-year-old John Wesley Perkins of Temple, authorities said. Perkins was a former high school football standout and played for the University of West Georgia, the Rome News-Tribune reported.
Additional details weren’t available.
Floyd County is about 80 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.
Dad, daughter swimming with family drown when rip current pulls them away, Florida cops say
Don’t wear blue: Mom’s swim safety tip goes viral on TikTok. ‘Never thought of this’
Last-minute call on dying phone leads rescuers to woman trapped by rising tide in CA
