The body of a 71-year-old Georgia man has been recovered from Lake Lanier, the infamous reservoir long described by some locals as “haunted,” after officials say he slipped off his boat and disappeared beneath the water.
Kim Gregory Battle was found near Three Sisters Island shortly after 5pm on Saturday, according to a release from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Lake Lanier, built in the 1950s over former burial grounds, has gained a grim reputation over the decades. More than 200 people have died there since 1994, fueling persistent local stories that the lake is haunted.
Witnesses told authorities that Battle had been operating his boat when his hat suddenly blew off, DNR Lieutenant Adam Loudermilk said, according to Fox 5.
He stopped the vessel and moved toward the rear to look for the hat, but then slipped and fell into the lake, the outlet reported.
Emergency crews were called to the area at about 3.28pm after Battle did not resurface, Loudermilk said.
DNR game wardens later located his body in roughly 11 feet of water using a remote-operated vessel, according to Fox 5.
The search and recovery effort involved DNR game wardens along with the Forsyth and Hall County sheriff’s offices, fire departments and dive teams.
Kim Gregory Battle, 71, was discovered in Lake Lanier, pictured, near Three Sisters Island just after 5pm on Saturday
Witnesses said that Battle was operating his boat (stock image) when his hat flew off and he slipped and fell into the water while attempting to retrieve it
It remains unclear if Battle was wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident. The Daily Mail reached out to the Georgia DNR for comment.
The tragedy comes after Lake Lanier claimed the life of a ‘good swimmer’ in June.
Terrell Shelton, 21, was swimming with his friends in Lake Lanier toward an island off of Robinson Park on June 16 when he went underwater and failed to resurface, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office said.
A bystander then tried to help Shelton but was unable to reach him in time, according to 11Alive.
Sheriff’s deputies, Hall County Fire Rescue personnel and officers with the Georgia DNR responded.
Shelton’s body was later recovered in about 14 feet of water after authorities used a remotely operated vehicle to continue the search at around 11.30pm.
The massive lake has been rumored to be cursed or haunted, with online discussions frequently pointing to the area’s history – including the remains of roads, structures and cemeteries that were flooded when the reservoir was created in the 1950s, according to CBS News.
The tragedy comes after Lake Lanier claimed the life of Terrell Shelton, 21, in June
Since 1994, more than 200 people have died in the lake, which was constructed atop burial grounds in the 1950s, leading to locals suggesting that it is haunted
The famous man-made lake has seen more than 70 fatalities in boating incidents and recorded 140 drowning deaths between 1994 and 2022.
In just one week in September 2023, three people lost their lives in Lake Lanier, adding to the death toll which does not even include suicides or medical emergencies.
The lake, built in 1956 by the US Army Corps of Engineers, has more than 38,000 acres of water and hosts several million visitors a year.
A theory for the shocking death toll of Lake Lanier could be the treacherous underwater traps, according to a 2023 Washington Post article.
‘When the lake was constructed, they didn’t remove every single structure from the area before flooding it,’ Dee Gillespie, a professor of US history at the University of North Georgia, said.
‘That means if you are swimming, you are more likely to get caught up in something.’
Beneath the lake lies ‘rooftops, home foundations, cemeteries, and the Gainesville Speedway,’ because the city officials thought it was too expensive to demolish the infrastructure.
‘When Lake Lanier was formed in the 1950s, it washed over Oscarville and turned it into an underwater ghost town,’ a 2021 Oxford American article states.
Officials have said a simple explanation for why authorities are regularly called to boating accidents, drownings and water rescues is the underwater debris, sudden drop-offs, low visibility and heavy recreational traffic on the lake that create dangerous conditions for both swimmers and boaters, Our News Outlet previously reported.
‘We always encourage people, if they’re gonna be out, to wear a life jacket,’ DNR Law Enforcement Division Corporal Kevin Goss told 11Alive.
‘It’s a very different lake than a lot of people are used to,’ he explained. ‘It’s got a lot of trees, elevation, a lot of wake, and so we always encourage bringing flotation and definitely a life jacket if you’re not comfortable with swimming.’
