Authorities searching for swimmer who went missing in Ocmulgee River at Amerson Park
Police are still searching for a man who went missing in the Ocmulgee River Wednesday after he and two friends “decided to take a swim” at Amerson River Park in Macon, officials said.
The three men tried to swim against the current of the river Wednesday afternoon, according to a statement from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. Two of the swimmers made it to a rocky area above water, but the third man struggled against the current before the other two men lost sight of him.
Divers from the Macon Fire Department and officers from the Department of Natural Resources started searching for the man around 5 p.m. and called the search off at 7:30 p.m. when it got dark. Dive teams and officers started searching again early Thursday morning.
The DNR said they will fly a helicopter Thursday to search for the lost swimmer in addition to using different forms of sonar to scan the river. The search spans a large portion of the river in Amerson Park.
The current in the Ocmulgee River may have been a little stronger than usual because of recent rains and, along with the colder temperature of the water, may have contributed to the swimmer’s disappearance, a DNR spokesperson said.
The Bibb sheriff’s office and DNR did not identify the three swimmers at the time.
The Telegraph will update this story when more information is available.
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 11:52 AM.