Drowning recorded at Greenway for second straight June; victim identified

Georgia Power was "generating" and several Sinclair Dam floodgates were open when two men began struggling with the current on the Oconee River around 7 o'clock Thursday afternoon.

The incident occurred in the stretch of water along the Greenway boat ramp. One of the men managed to struggle back to shore, while the other flotated downstream. Around 2 p.m. Friday, law enforcement recovered the body of Hunter Knight, a 26-year-old man from Thomaston in Upson County, located 90 minutes due west of Milledgeville.

IMAGE CREDITS: Milledgeville Police Department

This marks the second drowning at the Greenway in as many Junes. On June 25, 2023, a 22-year-old man was swimming with a friend when he went under and did not re-emerge. His body was recovered later that same day. 

Roughly 10 days after that, on the Fourth of July, first responders were running wide open on the river. The first calls came in around 4 p.m., with reports of kayaks and tubes floating past the Greenway with nobody in them and multiple people in distress. Milledgeville Fire Department Chief William Collier said that his firefighters ultimately rescued five people who were hanging on to tree limbs or whatever else they could hold on to.

"The river was really moving (that) afternoon. There's no doubt about it," Collier said. "It was a case of people underestimating the current and not being completely familiar with the river."

The second 911 call was placed by a woman who said that her boyfriend turned over in his kayak and did not re-emerge. The couple decided to make a right at the final fork prior to the Greenway, the fork that leads you to the extra sketchy and rocky portion of the river. The man ultimately was found downstream, with a large laceration to his head. He was transferred via ambulance to Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin, stitched up and later released.

Also, yesterday's accident marked the second "June 6th" in the last three years that a drowning has been recorded on the river. On June 6, 2022, 15-year-old Alex Escobar Careto was fishing along the tailrace beside the dam when he slipped and fell in the water.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources responded by placing a "life jacket loaner station" beside the tailrace. Similar stations be found along waterways in different parts of Georgia. It's all part of the DNR's SPLASH program.

MPD Maj. Linc Boyers told Baldwin2K News on Friday that there's now an initiative to erect a similar loaner station at the Greenway.

^^^CLICK HERE for more!