A Texas man’s body was found near the shore of Hixon’s Bluff nearly 24 hours after he went missing on the evening of May 1.
The Greene County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and Greene County Fire Rescue began searching for 54-year-old Bertram Foster at around 9:30 p.m. on May 1 in a cove between Plantation Point and Hixon’s Bluff.
The search was paused at 2 a.m. and resumed at 7:30 a.m. the following morning.
According to Sheriff Donnie Harrison, the GCSO received a call regarding a man who had jumped into the water in order to swim across a Lake Oconee cove from the Plantation Point side to the Hixon’s Bluff side, but went under the water and had not come up for more than 10 minutes.
Foster was found close to the Hixon’s Bluff side of the cove he tried to swim across.
“He just about made it,” Harrison said.
According to Harrison, Foster’s body was found in water reaching depths of six to eight feet, about five yards from the bank.
“It’s just an unfortunate situation,” Harrison said.
Coroner Chris Peters has taken custody of the body, which will later be sent to the state crime lab for an autopsy.
Harrison said Foster was on a golfing trip with friends and left the National Golf Course area to swim over to a house near Hixon’s Bluff, where he was staying during the trip.