In a series of bizarre and seemingly-unrelated events, two men are dead and a third presumed dead after swimming in what locals call a "haunted lake."
The trio of deaths started July 27, when a 24-year-old man was electrocuted after jumping from a dock into Lake Lanier, Georgia, according to the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. When the man—identified as Thomas Milner—called out for help, a family friend attempted to help him with a ladder, Atlanta News First reported.
When that didn't work, neighbors quickly grabbed a boat and went out to Milner. Deputies said one of the neighbors jumped into the water but immediately felt a burning sensation they recognized as an electric shock. First, they swam to a power box near the dock and turned it off, and then returned to the water to pull Milner back to shore.
Milner's death is attributed to electric shock drowning, which can occur when electrical currents leak into surrounding waters, causing a swimmer to become incapacitated, according to the Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Association.
In an incident unrelated to the electric shock drowning, the string of unfortunate deaths (and haunted reputation of the late) continued July 29, when a 27-year-old man slipped underneath the surface while swimming near Van Pugh Park on Lake Lanier. Authorities are still searching for his body.
The same day, a 61-year-old man drowned in Lake Lanier near East Bank Park in Hall County, according to the Department of Natural Resources. The man, identified as Tracey Stewart of Stone Mountain, was swimming from a boat when he went under. His body was located submerged in 46 feet of water.
These three recent deaths join a grim list; there have been more than 200 fatalities on Lake Lanier since 1994.
Haunted History
Lake Lanier has a long reputation centered on the supernatural and suspicious. It is a man-made reservoir that was flooded in the 1950s, but the history of the land beneath traces back much further. Oscarville, a primarily Black town that was destroyed to create the lake, was the site of a series of violent lynch mobs in 1912. When the lake was created, it displaced more than 1,000 people—predominantly African American families—plus many thriving local businesses and even cemeteries.
It is not uncommon for strange incidents to occur in Lake Lanier. Earlier this year, a huge rabid beaver attacked a little girl in the water while she was swimming.
The lake was the subject of a local petition earlier this year calling for it to be drained. Tameka Foster, ex-wife of pop singer Usher, put forward her support for the petition. Foster's son, Kile Glover, died in a jet ski accident on the lake in July 2012.
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