PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities from Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Putnam County Sheriff's Office say strong storms could interrupt efforts to recover the body of a man missing after a boat accident on Lake Sinclair Tuesday.
Crews from Georgia DNR and Putnam County searched Lake Sinclair Tuesday for 42-year-old Patrick Gilbert.
They believe he drowned after getting thrown overboard in a boating accident. Teams suspended their search for the Forsyth man just after sundown Tuesday.
The search began just after 11:30 Tuesday morning. The first call came in from someone who lived on the lake, saying she heard a girl screaming. Minutes later, 18-year-old Rebecca Gilbert called 911 saying her father had drowned.
Rebecca Gilbert tells first responders she and her father were fishing in their 19-foot boat near Putnam Beach Tuesday morning.
"They apparently had hit a log floating in the water," said Sheriff Howard Sills.
Sheriff Sills says the impact caused all of the rigging and gear in the boat to shift to the left, flipping both Rebecca and Patrick into the lake.
"She said she'd tried to keep her father up the best she could," Sills said.
"She tried to get him, but he was too heavy to hold onto," said Sgt. Lee Brown with Georgia DNR.
"But eventually they both went under," Sills said.
Rebecca told authorities that when she came back up from the water, her father was gone.
Crews searched all Tuesday afternoon into the evening. Georgia DNR tried using an underwater camera along with sector scan technology.
"What the sector scan does… it's like a radar. It looks at the bottom. It shows an image," Brown said.
But by sunset, search efforts ended with no sign of Patrick Gilbert.
"In situations like this, we want to try to find the person as quick as we can to help bring that family closure," Brown said.
Sgt. Brown says whether they'll continue the search Wednesday all depends on the storms and how soon it moves out of the area. He says if they can't get the boats out on the water Wednesday, they'll start back first thing Thursday morning.
Sheriff Sills says neither Patrick nor Rebecca Gilbert wore a lifejacket. He says Rebecca was not hurt and is back with family.