MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — A kayak floating empty on the Oconee River caused a search for the missing boater Thursday evening, according to the Milledgeville Police Department, but the kayaker was quickly found safe and in a life jacket.
The police arrived at the scene around 9:10 p.m. after a fisherman found the kayak floating upside down and unoccupied.
The police searched for the kayaker by boat and by drone, but they later found them unharmed.
She told police that she fell out of her boat about a mile north of the bridge, according to the department.
When the kayak filled up with water, she swam to a rock on the side of the river and asked her father to pick her up by boat, according to the police department.
She said that the kayak belonged to her.
A Georgia Power water safety guide, linked by the department, says that in 80% of boating accidents, the real cause of death is drowning. 90% of the time, that person was not wearing a life jacket.
Georgia Power says that a person with a life jacket can survive from 30 to 90 minutes in water, that is 32 degrees, but in 70 to 80-degree water, a person could survive close to indefinitely.