Body of unidentified man found in Lake Hartwell

The Hart County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are attempting to identify a body recovered from Lake Hartwell Tuesday afternoon.

The body is a relatively young male, but had no ID on him, according to Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland.

“Yesterday around three or four o’clock we got a call,” Cleveland told WLHR Radio. “A fisherman had seen what he thought was a body and it did in fact turn out to be a body floating. It was in the Powderbag area of the lake, off Old 29.”

The body was recovered, and the area was cordoned off to allow law enforcement to conduct a thorough scene investigation that lasted a number of hours, according to Cleveland.

The male, said to be 25 to 35 years old, weighing 140 to 150 pounds and standing 5-foot-10 to 6 feet tall, was not carrying identification. He had long hair and a red, scruffy beard.

Investigators have no reason to believe foul play was involved, Cleveland said.

Cleveland announced Wednesday that a preliminary identification has been made, and once a definitive identification is made, more information on the case will be released.