Lake Lanier has tragically claimed yet another victim, adding to its ominous reputation.
On Saturday afternoon, a 46-year-old Vinings, Georgia, man drowned while attempting to swim back to his boat. Authorities have identified the deceased as Hasani Kamau Widemond, whose life was cut short during what was supposed to be a leisurely day on the water.
According to Mark McKinnon, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Widemond was trying to swim from shore to his vessel when he suddenly went underwater and never resurfaced.
First responders from Forsyth and Hall counties rushed to the scene, arriving just before 2 p.m. Utilizing boat-mounted sonar, DNR game wardens located Widemond in approximately 25 feet of water. Forsyth County divers, with help from a remote-operated vessel from the Hall County Fire Department, recovered his body.
This tragedy marks the third drowning on Lake Lanier this year alone. Earlier, on June 5th, 76-year-old Jim Hansard from Gainesville was found in 13 feet of water after disappearing near his dock at Forsyth County’s Keith Bridge Park. Just a week prior, on May 29th, 73-year-old Matthew Mayo, also from Gainesville, drowned while fishing with his wife. Mayo fell into the lake when his bass boat’s seat unexpectedly came loose.
Lake Lanier has long been the subject of chilling tales and whispers of the supernatural, with many locals believing it to be haunted. Created in the 1950s by flooding several predominantly Black communities, including cemeteries, the water is said to harbor the restless spirits of those displaced during its construction. The unexplained deaths at Lake Lanier only add to its eerie mystique.
Between 1994 and 2022, over 200 people have lost their lives in the lake’s waters. In 2023 alone, 13 people drowned, according to DNR records.
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