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Drowning investigation continuing
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Forsyth County News

GAINESVILLE — Gainesville police say there is no new information as to how or what caused the apparent drowning of a man Thursday in Lake Lanier.

William James Carswell of Gainesville was pronounced dead early Friday morning at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

Police cannot yet confirm how or what may have caused the 51-year-old to be in the lake near the docks at the Chattahoochee Country Club.

“That’s information pertinent to the investigation, which is not closed at this time,” police spokesman Cpl. Kevin Holbrook said Tuesday.

The police investigation, with the assistance of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, is ongoing. They are awaiting results from the medical examiner.

“We are waiting on results from the medical examiner to know the exact cause and manner of death,” Holbrook said.

Included in those tests will be a toxicology screen, which can have a lengthy return time, he added.

Emergency personnel were called to the docks at the Chattahoochee Country Club about 10 p.m. on the night of Carswell’s death, according to Holbrook.

Carswell was already on the dock, Holbrook said, when emergency personnel arrived and began giving life-saving procedures. Bystanders on the scene were evidently the first to find him and retrieve him from the water.

According to his obituary from Little & Davenport Funeral Home, Carswell was born on March 7 in Waycross. He was a father of four.

“Will’s most favorite days were spent coaching soccer to his kids and their teammates,” his obituary read. “His knowledge and love of soccer impacted many in the Hall County area. He got so much pleasure watching his kids play all sports.”

He was an enthusiast for airplanes and the pipe organ, growing up with a father who played, and had visited many churches to hear the instrument.

Carswell is also survived by his partner, Jennifer Lester of Gainesville, and family in New York, California, Savannah and Waycross.

His funeral will be held today at Gainesville’s Grace Episcopal Church.