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Body found in Chattahoochee River identified
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Forsyth County News

SOUTH FORSYTH — The body of a man who apparently drowned in the Chattahoochee River on Saturday has been identified, authorities said.

According to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, 61-year-old Robert Allen Hancock of Lawrenceville was found submerged in the water by fishermen.

Deputies from the agency responded with the Forsyth County Fire Department and the U.S. Park Service to a drowning on the river in the area of McGinnis Ferry boat ramp.

Hancock's boat was also found nearby, the sheriff's office said. The initial investigation revealed no signs of foul play.

Detectives believe Hancock may have fallen from his boat. An autopsy is scheduled at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab.

The holiday weekend was first marred with the tragedy early Saturday morning when the Georgia Department of Natural Resources reported that one person was killed in a boating incident, though further details were not initially available.

DNR Public Affairs Officer Mark McKinnon said in an email late Saturday that the person died on the Chattahoochee River in Forsyth County.

DNR reported a total of four boating under the influence incidents in the Forsyth area on Saturday.

The rest of the state’s waterways were relatively calm, with just one other boating incident involving an injury being reported in the DNR’s Calhoun region.

On Sunday, seven people were rescued unharmed about noon after their boat sank near Van Pugh Park near Flowery Branch on the Hall County side of the lake.

Hall County Fire Services got a call about a boat problem. Upon arrival, the marine rescue unit found the people in the water.

“Apparently, the vessel had experienced some type of mechanical failure and had begun to sink,” said Fire Marshal Scott Cagle.

Forsyth’s fire department and DNR rangers helped with the rescue.