LAKE OCONEE — The body of Atlanta teacher and track-and-field coach who vanished on Lake Oconee has been found.
Channel 2 Action News has been following the search for Gary Jones since he disappeared on Feb. 8 while boating with Joycelyn Wilson, his fiancé and a Spelman College instructor. Officials recovered Wilson’s body the next day.
On Sunday, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills confirmed that an out-of-state dive team pulled Jones’ body out of the lake.
Michael Jones, Gary Jones’ brother, spoke with Channel 2′s Brittany Kleinpeter just hours after learning the news. He shared his relief and thanked the sheriff’s office and volunteer diver Keith Cormican and his team.
“We just want to say thank you for all of the unbelievable support…this has been the worst 29 days of our life,” Michael Jones told Kleinpeter.
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Cormican and his specialized search team traveled from Wisconsin and joined the search on Friday to help the Jones family get results and some closure.
Cormican runs a nonprofit called Bruce’s Legacy, which is funded by donations and named for his late brother, and assists with searches around the country.
Cormican told Channel 2 Action News that his team found Jones on Sunday around 12 p.m. less then 100 yards from where Wilson was found.
Cormican said Jones was found in an area that was heavily wooded, describing it as an underwater forest. He said the teacher’s body was found about 45 feet deep down.
He said it was a combination of the sonar that he uses and just the experience he and his team have, following weeks of searching.
“To be able to give them the answer they were looking for 29 days means a lot,” Cormican said.
Jones’ brother shared with Kleinpeter that he and his family are just ready to move forward, saying they knew this day would eventually come following weeks of speculation from the outside community.
Now, they’re just asking for privacy moving forward.
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