MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — The El Dorado Mexican Restaurant in Forsyth will hold a fundraiser this weekend for Martin Martinez, who drowned at the Popes Ferry boat ramp on Sunday.
Martinez, 32, was a server at El Dorado. According to a Facebook post, the restaurant’s proceeds from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 30 will go towards his funeral expenses. El Dorado’s menu for the fundraiser will feature items such as a $12 taco salad, $4 steak tacos and $5 margaritas.
The post says the proceeds are working to get Martinez home to his mother in Mexico for the funeral. They have also supplied a Cashapp link for those who wish to support the Martinez family, but cannot make the fundraiser.
Martinez was swimming in the Ocmulgee River near the Popes Ferry boat ramp when witnesses say he disappeared in a shallow sand bar, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. They say they later located his body with the help of drone surveillance and the Monroe County Fire Department.
Martinez was the third person to drown in the Ocmulgee River this past weekend. One man drowned in Bibb County trying to save children at the Macon Riverwalk, and a former Jones County football player drowned at Amerson River Park.
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