RedactedNarrative: On Thursday, March 14 at approximately 2130 hours, I received a call from the Bleckley County Sheriffs Office in reference to a possible boating incident that occurred near Dykes Landing on the Ocmulgee River. I made contact with the complainant at approximately 2145 hours. The complainant advised that Operator had recently purchased the boat and was test driving the boat while he observed from the boat ramp. He also stated that the boat appeared to running fine as Operator went up and down stream multiple times. On the final pass, Subject stated that Operator went south past the boat ramp and out of sight. Subject advised that he heard sound of the motor change as if the prop came out of the water. He said he heard Operator yelling for a brief second and advised that it got quiet. Subject advised this was at approximately 1930 hours. Subject then called his wife to bring another boat when Operator did not return. After launching a boat at approximately 2200 hours Subject was unable to locate Operator or the vessel. Subject advised after being unable to locate Operator, he decided to call 911.    
  	 Multiple units from Bleckley County EMA also responded and launched their boats. They located the vessel approximately a half a mile south of Dykes Landing. Operator was not located at this time and it was evident that the vessel had struck multiple trees before it came to rest on West Bank of the river.
  		The search continued in this manner through Monday, March 18, 2019 when the body of Operator floated to the surface and was located by a GSP dive team member. 
  	The vessel used by Operator had damage consistent with hitting several trees. The throttle was located in the "full throttle' position with the key in "on' position. There was no lanyard attached to the kill switch. The navigation lights were not in use. The steering appeared to have a full range of motion. The piston that allows the motor to be electronically raised and lowered was completely detached/broken from the mounting bracket which indicates a heavy impact with a fixed object. The vessel also had damage to the starboard side of the vessel as well as the bottom consistent with damage to trees in the immediate vicinity of where the boat came to its final resting place on the West Bank of the river. There were several damaged trees from approximately 75 yards upstream leading to where the boat was finally located.  Multiple PFDs were also located in the vessel.
  	The evidence suggest that after the initial impact with a small group of trees, Operator was ejected. The boat continued downstream with the motor still running and in gear. The boat struck several more trees and ultimately hit the west river bank and came to rest with the motor still running.
  