(UPDATE 9:15 A.M.) The Crisp County Sheriff’s Office confirms they have found the body of 38-year-old Mark Lund, of Albany. Recovery efforts ended around 8:40 a.m. Monday.
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The search continues for a man missing in Lake Blackshear, making it the seventh reported drowning in Central Georgia since May.
Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock says around 4 p.m. Saturday, a witness saw a man's kayak capsize and he did not return to the surface.
When it comes to getting in the lake, Andy Murdock says he always takes extra caution.
“If you can’t swim, you should be wearing a life jacket. Dark skies; you hear thunder and lightning, don’t get out on the water, get to the shore immediately,” said Murdock.
So, when a man drowned in Lake Blackshear right down from his house, Murdock says he immediately thought about the stormy weather playing a role.
“You know, as I thought about it, if the waves were really rolling as high as they were, it would’ve probably added difficulty, if someone's panicking for them to hold onto something floating,” said Murdock.
The sheriff's office says from what they know, the man was not wearing a life jacket when his kayak capsized.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources says wearing one is the most important way to stay safe in water.
On May 3, a Georgia Military College student who was also not wearing a life jacket drowned in the Oconee River.
Since then, six other people in Central Georgia, including this man, have died from drowning.
Murdock says he hopes people can learn from this.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family here. We know this is a trying time,” said Murdock.