Man, 23, drowns in Lake Lanier after slipping on dock in eighth death of year

04 September 2023 , 17:58

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The man tragically drowned in Lake Lanier (Image: Getty Images)

A 23-year-old man has drowned in Georgia's "haunted" Lake Lanier after slipping on the dock - which is shockingly the eighth death this year.

Gavrie Alexander Whitlock, from Snellville, Georgia, ran down the dock and slipped into the water, failing to resurface at around 10.30pm on Saturday night. The Department of Natural Resources responded to a drowning call at the lake’s oldest and largest marina but he was tragically found dead. An investigation into his death is ongoing.

The victim is the eighth person to drown in Lake Lanier so far in 2023 as a week before his death 23-year-old Edgar Steven Cruz Martinez, drowned when swimming in Lake Lanier on 26 August.

"A lot of people aren’t used to swimming in choppy water. It’s not like a pool out here. It’s completely different, so you can get swept out pretty easy," Georgia DNR Game Warder Cody Tanner explained.

Mr Tanner had advised that people taking a risky swim in the lake should prepare for warmer waters. "With it being the end of the summer, it gets brutally hot out here sometimes, with the water being warm as well," he added. "People don’t realize they’re dehydrating, and they’ll get out pretty deep and their legs will start locking up, and they’ll go straight down."

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Before this drowning, two men, aged 27 and 61, died the same day in unrelated events; they were both swimming in the lake on 29 July when they failed to resurface. And just days before both of the men drowned a 24-year-old man named Thomas Shepard Milner was electrocuted after jumping off a dock into Lake Lanier. According to USA Today and Georgia DNR, it is estimated that more than 200 people have died at Lake Lanier between 1994 and 2022.

The lake, which is named after a Confederate army veteran, was artificially made by the US government in the 1950s. By the time it was finally constructed, some 250 families were displaced, many of them believed to be Black.

Georgia’s Lake Lanier has killed eight people this year (Getty Images)

The tragic death follows when in 2012, the son of Tameka Foster, a fashion designer and the ex-wife of R&B star Usher, died after a watercraft struck the boy while he was sitting on an inflatable on the lake. Kile Glover, 11, was killed, which led to his mum starting a petition to “drain, clean and restore” the lake, to make it safe and to remove dangerous debris.

“Draining, cleaning, and restoring Lake Lanier is not only necessary but also an opportunity to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives and prevent further tragedies,” she wrote in her Change.org petition. Kile's death sparked heartache for the family, who described him as the "most fun, creative, sweet and respectful boy."

Liam Buckler