Dive Teams Continue Search for Drowning Victim

Divers from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office Underwater Search and Recovery Team continue search efforts today for a 44-year-old man who is believed to have drowned in Lake Lanier just after midnight Saturday (Aug. 18), according to Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks of the HCSO.

The team’s activity will be limited to sonar searches only due to heavy weekend boat traffic in the area, which creates hazardous dive conditions. Crews will mark likely sonar targets for closer inspection when dive operations resume on Monday morning.

Jeffrey Nause apparently went into the water from a boat to take a swim, according to deputies who responded to the vicinity of Lake Lanier Islands regarding a report of a drowning. Initial reports indicated that at some point Nause became distressed, went under, and did not resurface.

Sheriff’s investigators and dive team members spent Friday night and the early morning hours Saturday gathering initial information regarding the incident.

They began their searches just after noon Saturday, spending approximately four to five hours in water depths ranging from 70 to 140 feet.

Robin Hill, a public information officer for the Department of Natural Resources, said in an e-mail to Patch, that divers are searching "in an area of the lake that was flooded and has a lot of debris - trees, etc." 

She also said divers from Forsyth County are assisting in the search.

At this time the case is being investigated as an accidental drowning, and remains under investigation by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Criminal Investigations Division.

Sheriff’s investigators and dive team members spent the night and early morning hours gathering initial information regarding the incident. They began their searches just after noon Friday in water depths ranging from 70 to 140 feet.

At this time the incident, is being investigated as an accidental drowning, and remains under investigation by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Criminal Investigations Division.

This is the third drowning in Lake Lanier in less than a month. On and on