MACON, Ga. — Arrests have been made in a fatal boating accident on Lake Tobesofkee, months after the accident happened. A third man is still wanted.
According to arrest records, two men were arrested by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources on Monday: 36-year-old Nathan Hodgson and 35-year-old Stephen Harper.
Both are charged with hindering apprehension and making false statements to law enforcement. They’re being held without bond.
A third man, identified as 57-year-old Eric Head of Macon, is also wanted on two counts of homicide by vessel, one count of boating under the influence, and one count of reckless operation. A news release says he was driving the boat at the time of the accident.
DNR says they believe he's no longer in the state of Georgia and are asking anyone with information to call them at 770-918-6408.
BACKGROUND
Specific details about the accident have been scarce since it originally happened in the early morning hours of Saturday, July 24, on Sandy Beach at Lake Tobesofkee.
Game wardens say they were called around 3:40 a.m. for a boating accident. A cigarette boat crashed into a pontoon boat with seven people on-board.
Two of the seven people were taken to the Medical Center, Atrium Health Navicent with skull fractures and one of them died; 22-year-old William Childs.
Childs was the assistant manager at Fish N Pig, a waterfront restaurant on the lake. The restaurant remained closed for over a week so staff could ‘heal both physically and mentally.’
By July 27, the other six people injured in the crash were released from the hospital.
At the time, DNR Public Affairs Officer Mark McKinnon told 13WMAZ they would complete the investigation, present a case to the DA and then determine charges. He anticipated it would take 2-3 months to conclude the investigation.
13WMAZ has reached out to DNR regularly after the accident; they told us they were waiting on toxicology results to move forward.