Sheriff: ‘Other matters’ investigated amid Lake Oconee search for missing teacher
Putnam County’s sheriff said Friday that the investigation into a couple’s disappearance while boating on Lake Oconee has expanded.
The search continued for missing metro Atlanta teacher Gary Jones. He has not been seen since going out on the water Saturday with his fiancée Joycelyn Wilson, who was a Spelman College instructor.
Wilson’s body was found by search crews Sunday.
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The couple went out on a small plastic boat Saturday, DNR officers found that boat empty near Wallace Dam Saturday evening.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills says this is more than just a simple drowning investigation.
“There are other matters here we are investigating,” he said. “I’m not prepared to say this is a murder investigation yet, I’m not there. We’re doing other things that are more than we would do, if we had an outright drowning and a body came up.”
He told Channel 2 Action News Reporter Tyisha Fernandes that he has seen surveillance video that shows Jones and Wilson heading out Saturday on Gary’s 11 foot Sun Dolphin 120, all plastic boat.
“The boat shouldn’t have been out in this type of water,” Sills said.
Investigators found Jones’s shoes Thursday.
“The shoes were not laced or tied up tight. There’s no evidence on the shoes they reached the shore. There’s no red mud on the shoes, there’s not debris on the shoes and contrary to what everyone is saying - these shoes were found floating, they were not by each other. They were found 15-20 yards apart,” Sills said.
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