DROWNING ON LAKE HARTWELL OVER THE WEEKEND.

On Saturday, August 10, at approximately 06:45 PM the Hart County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a possible drowning at Elrod’s Ferry Recreation Area.

“Deputies responded to the scene and found that a 45-year-old male was out in the lake approximately 25-30 yards off the bank on a float,” Carroll said. “Witnesses said the male fell off the float and could not get back on. They stated the male went underwater and did not resurface.”

Carroll said the witnesses were able to get another person on a jet ski to come help look for the male. The person on the jet ski along with Hart County Volunteer Firefighters who were on the scene searching, located the male just under the surface and brought him to shore.
CPR was initiated and the male was transported to the Hospital by Hart County EMS, where he was pronounced deceased. The male has been identified as 45-year-old Levi Magana Nino of Athens, GA.

This is the third death on Lake Hartwell in the past two weeks.

On August 2 two brothers were operating personal watercraft late at night when they collided head-on near the Poplar Springs boat ramp. One of the brothers was thrown into the water and was later pronounced dead at St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital.

And August 3 a man trying to tie his boat to a dock at the Hartwell Marina slipped and fell into the water and did not resurface. His body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.