Fidel Ojwang was recovered dead early Monday from Lake Allatoona after disappearing underwater from the back of a ski boat on Sunday. He was 28 and from Lilburn.
Game wardens and Bartow County Fire Rescue were sent to Glade Marina at 12:49 p.m. Sunday after reports of a possible drowning, and search crews worked through the night with boat-mounted SONAR. Just after midnight Monday, game wardens found Ojwang in about 60 feet of water.
The recovery did not answer the most basic questions about how the drowning unfolded. Authorities have not said whether Ojwang was wearing a life jacket or what caused him to go underwater after he exited the boat, and they have not offered any detail that would explain why he did not resurface.
Crews recovered his body with a remotely operated vehicle and turned it over to the Bartow County Coroner. The incident happened at Lake Allatoona near Glade Marina, and the circumstances surrounding the drowning remain under investigation.
For Ojwang’s family, the search ended with a recovery and not a rescue. For investigators, the unanswered questions are now the point: whether a life jacket was in use, and what happened in the water before he disappeared.
