Drowning Victim in Lake Hartwell Identified

The man who drowned Sunday evening in Lake Hartwell has been identified as a Hispanic man from Greer, SC.

According to Hart County Coroner Mike Adams, he is 22-year old Armando Estaban Sanchez Martinez.

DNR Law Enforcement officer, Craig Fulghum said Martinez drowned while swimming at the Big Oaks Recreation area late Sunday afternoon.

He said it happened about 6p.

“At approximately 5:50p, our game wardens received a call that there was a subject who went down at the Big Oaks Recreation Area next to the Hartwell Dam in Hartwell,” he said. “The subject had already been recovered prior to game wardens arriving. EMS personnel tried to resuscitate the individual. The coroner was on the scene and the subject was pronounced dead.”

Martinez was with others at Big Oaks but Adams said he could not swim and was not wearing a life jacket when he went into the water and got separated from the group.

Meantime, Fulghum said this has been the busiest July 4th holiday on Lake Hartwell he’s ever seen.

Fulghum said they are seeing more inexperienced boaters and PWC operators on the lake this year than in years past.

“People that are not familiar with boating and the laws, they just come out, get in the boat and go to it. Those are typically the ones who are going to have a violation. They just have not done the education and know the inherent dangers. And if you don’t do your homework and you’re not familiar with boating, you’re going to make mistakes,” he said.

As of Sunday evening, Fulghum said about 100 citations had been issued on Lake Hartwell this weekend, primarily for safety violations.