Hall County divers on Wednesday recovered the body of a 67-year-old North Carolina man who drowned in Lake Lanier Tuesday afternoon.

The body of James David Brown of Asheville was recovered around 11 a.m. Wednesday, Hall County Sheriff’s Col. Jeff Strickland said.
Brown’s children and wife were at the scene when his body was recovered.

Brown was in town for a family reunion and was riding on an 18-foot ski boat Tuesday about 2 p.m. near Little Hall Park off Dawsonville Highway. The boat stopped to pick up a child being towed on an inner tube and Brown jumped into the water for a swim, Strickland said. He never resurfaced.

Divers spent about six hours searching for Brown’s body on Tuesday before suspending the search at dark.

They spent another two-plus hours searching Wednesday before locating the body in about 50 feet of water using a sonar device.

It was the second drowning in Lake Lanier this year. Rohan Mathew, 27, of Lawrenceville went under east of Shady Grove Campground in Forsyth County in early May. His body has not been recovered.