RedactedNarrative: On the evening of May 4th, 2022, I, Corporal was contacted by Sergeant concerning a boating fatality incident on Lake Sinclair in Putnam County.  Sgt. advised an individual, operating a personal watercraft (PWC) at a high rate of speed was thrown from the vessel and suffered injuries that lead to a fatality.  Sgt. requested I contact Sergeant and be the lead case agent for the incident investigation.  Sgt. advised me to make arrangements to meet with Sgt. the following morning to begin the investigation.  I contacted Sgt. and advised him I would meet him at the courthouse in Eatonton to write up search warrants for the vessel on the following morning.
  
  On the morning of May 5th, 2022, I met with Sgt. at the Putnam County Courthouse in Eatonton and completed search warrants for the vessel, a Sea-doo 300 Rotax XPS.  After getting the search warrants signed by the Magistrate Judge, I met with Game Warden at the Putnam County Coroner’s Office at approximately 12:00 hours and photographed the body of the victim.  Victim showed signs of severe impact on the left side of the face and neck, with bruising around the right eye and right ear area.  Victim also had blood coming from both right and left ears as well as the nose.  I asked the Coroner if they were going to do an autopsy and toxicology report on Victim and he stated the Crime Lab had denied the request.  
  
  I requested and was given the coroner’s report that listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma and accidental.  After leaving the Coroner’s Office, GW and I went to the Georgia Power Plant Branch Security Storage area, located on Highway 441 south near the Putnam/Baldwin County line.  Victim’s PWC had been stored at the location since the incident.  I proceeded to inspect the PWC and did not observe any indications that the PWC struck anything in the water causing Victim to be ejected.  The PWC as well as the personal flotation device (PFD) and registration information were photographed.  After completing the documentation of the PWC, Sgt. gave me the written statements from several of the individuals that assisted and/or witnessed the incident.
  
  On May 6th, 2022, GW carried the PWC to Byron Power Sports, at 300 Hwy 49S Byron, GA 31008, where the search warrant was executed for the engine data from the engine control module (ECM).  GW delivered the data to me on a thumb drive at the Georgia Public Training Center in Forsyth on May 9th.  The Byron Power Sports Technician was unable to pull any usable information from the ECM.
  
  Based on witness statements from the incident location, several people witnessed Victim operating the PWC at a high rate of speed going back and forth in the area.  A witness estimated his speed to be around 70 mph as well as another witness, who estimated Victim had been operating the PWC around 60 mph.  Subject1 stated he heard the crash and saw Victim floating and began hollering at him to see if he was ok.  He did not get a response so he, Subject2, and another launched a boat off of Subject3’s lift and went to check on Victim.  Once they arrived, there was another boat that had arrived and was attempting to assist Victim. Victim was loaded on the deck of Subject3’s boat and taken to the Twin Bridges Marina where they were met by Emergency Medical Services.  CPR was performed by EMS but was unsuccessful.  Based on other witnesses that arrived at the incident scene while Victim was being pulled from the water, Victim appeared to be blue and purple and had some bleeding, was unresponsive, and did not have a pulse.  
  
  Based on the information gathered by witnesses and injuries to Victim, it appears that victim had been operating the PWC in an unknown direction of travel, at a high rate of speed when he was ejected from the vessel and impacted the water with enough force to cause fatal neck and facial injuries.  Due to not having an autopsy or toxicology report, it cannot be determined if there were other medical conditions that may have contributed to the incident.