After monthlong search, missing Ga. teacher’s body found in lake
ATLANTA, Ga. - The body of missing teacher Gary Jones was found in Lake Oconee, according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
Jones went missing along with his fiancée, Spelman College professor Joycelyn Wilson, in Lake Oconee on Feb. 8. An empty boat was found circling Lake Oconee. Based on interviews, game wardens believed there was a man and woman on the boat and began a search.
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Using sonar equipment, wardens found the body of Joycelyn Wilson on Feb. 9. Wilson was a Spelman College instructor in the Department of Mathematics, “where she made an indelible impact on both her students and colleagues,” the college said in a statement.
Jones’ body was found around 1 p.m. Sunday.
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Jones was a faculty member at Westminster, a private Christian school in Atlanta. According to Westminster President Keith Evans, Jones ed the Westminster staff in 2002 and was a middle school science teacher, eighth-grade basketball coach and head of program for track and field.
“I have had the privilege of connecting with alumni, parents, students, and faculty who have shared stories of Gary’s legacy and the many ways he inspired both his students and colleagues. He has profoundly impacted the Wildcat community and his ing will be felt well beyond the boundaries of our campus,” Evans said.
Jones’ family called him a “life-changer” and that the search was “the worst 29 days of our lives.”
Atlanta-based singer and rapper CeeLo Green took to social media to mourn Wilson. On Instagram, Green said Wilson was practically his sister and that “no one deserves to perish in that fashion.”
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said in late February that search crews had zeroed in on a 2-to-3-acre area on the lake.
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The water in which Jones and Wilson’s boat was found is pierced from below by old tree limbs. Those trees, the nearby dam, and the constant water flow made the search more complicated than usual.
But the clues were there. Jones’ shoes were found washed ashore. His wallet was still in the boat.
“I cannot such an extensive use of government and civilian personnel and resources for an incident such as this on Lakes Oconee and Sinclair in the last 40 years,” he said.
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