LAKE OCONEE, Ga. — Cold weather is forcing investigators to alter their search for a missing boater on Lake Oconee.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes learned that cadaver dogs couldn’t search for Westminster teacher and track coach Gary Jones on Wednesday because the air temperature is colder than the water.
“If the water temperature is 53 and the air temperature is 41, any scent that’s coming up to the top doesn’t dissipate. It won’t allow the dogs to hit on anything, it will not alert,” said Emergency Response Diver Richard Pickering.
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Pickering and his team used underwater cameras, while the cadaver dogs took a break. Trees made the underwater search difficult.
Crews recovered Joycelyn Wilson’s body more than a week ago after they found the couple’s empty boat circling with no one on it.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills is hearing all sorts of theories, including that Jones may not be in the lake.
He says all evidence points to Jones being in the lake. Investigators have found his boat, truck, wallet, keys and shoes in and around the lake.
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A witness told deputies that he saw Jones’ boat Saturday. It was hard to tell who was on it or how many people were on it, but the engine sounded like a chainsaw.
“This was a new, looked brand new, Chinese motor, an engine I’ve never seen before,” he said.
Sheriff Sills says Jones left his Cobb County home Saturday, picked up his boat, stopped at Burger King and set out on the lake around 3:30 p.m.
A couple of hours later, game wardens found his empty boat circling with no one on it near Wallace Dam.
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