GA -- 2 teachers missing after boat outing. Body of Joycelyn Wilson found, Gary Jones still missing. Lake Oconee. 08 Feb. 2025

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vls12345 said:
I keep thinking about this, the fact that her phone was in her hand. And I agree that maybe her hand was in rigor when she went in the water. But how long does it take for rigor to set in? Iirc, articles have said that security cams show them putting the boat in the water at 3:30pm. At 5:30pm, other boaters reported an empty boat (& nobody around that they could see in the immediate area). Her body was found at 9:30am the following morning. If something happened to her between 3:30 & 5:30pm, would that be enough time for rigor to set in? Or does this somehow change the timeline or open up other possibilities (like she was somewhere else for at least part of the time between the empty boat being seen at 5:30pm& her body being found at 9:30am, maybe on land briefly somewhere)? Imo.
Click to expand...

How long does rigor mortis last?​

Overall, the process of rigor mortis goes on for 24-48 hours. Factors such as surrounding temperature, cause of death, temperature of the body, previous levels of fitness and muscle mass, drug abuse, infection, and availability of nutrients and adenosine triphosphate immediately before the death may shorten or lengthen these times. Rigor mortis comes to an end because of the decomposition of the muscles and the body, a cycle called secondary flaccidity.

The overall timeline of rigor mortis under ordinary conditions is as follows:
  • 0-8 hours: Body begins to harden but is still movable
  • 8-12 hours: Muscles become fully stiff
  • 12-24 hours: Muscles stay solid and stiff
  • 24-36 hours: Stiffness disperses, and muscles become flexible
www.medicinenet.com

Rigor Mortis: Overview, Causes, 6 Stages, Duration, Death

Rigor mortis is the third stage after death, in which the muscles harden and become stiff. Learn about its causes, stages, and more.
www.medicinenet.com www.medicinenet.com
 
vls12345 said:
I keep thinking about this, the fact that her phone was in her hand. And I agree that maybe her hand was in rigor when she went in the water. But how long does it take for rigor to set in? Iirc, articles have said that security cams show them putting the boat in the water at 3:30pm. At 5:30pm, other boaters reported an empty boat (& nobody around that they could see in the immediate area). Her body was found at 9:30am the following morning. If something happened to her between 3:30 & 5:30pm, would that be enough time for rigor to set in? Or does this somehow change the timeline or open up other possibilities (like she was somewhere else for at least part of the time between the empty boat being seen at 5:30pm& her body being found at 9:30am, maybe on land briefly somewhere)? Imo.
Click to expand...
I just googled it, rigor mortis can start as little as 2 hours. They were on the boat for at most 2 hours. If she was in rigor mortis, she must have died right after the boat launched. And probably not by drowning because she had air in her lungs.

 
CHEL said:

How long does rigor mortis last?​

Overall, the process of rigor mortis goes on for 24-48 hours. Factors such as surrounding temperature, cause of death, temperature of the body, previous levels of fitness and muscle mass, drug abuse, infection, and availability of nutrients and adenosine triphosphate immediately before the death may shorten or lengthen these times. Rigor mortis comes to an end because of the decomposition of the muscles and the body, a cycle called secondary flaccidity.

The overall timeline of rigor mortis under ordinary conditions is as follows:
  • 0-8 hours: Body begins to harden but is still movable
  • 8-12 hours: Muscles become fully stiff
  • 12-24 hours: Muscles stay solid and stiff
  • 24-36 hours: Stiffness disperses, and muscles become flexible
www.medicinenet.com

Rigor Mortis: Overview, Causes, 6 Stages, Duration, Death

Rigor mortis is the third stage after death, in which the muscles harden and become stiff. Learn about its causes, stages, and more.
www.medicinenet.com www.medicinenet.com
Click to expand...
No it can take a lot less than 8 hours. It starts at 2 hours.
 
A small update:

www.11alive.com

Cadaver dogs detect possible hit in water; forensic expert explains how woman's body may have remained afloat in Lake Oconee

Authorities intensify search efforts in Lake Oconee as new clues emerge, while a forensic expert sheds light on key details surrounding the case.
www.11alive.com www.11alive.com

There is also some interesting discussion about the air trapped in her lungs and the phone still being grasped towards the bottom of the article. Short version is the guy states that hypothermia could explain both happenings.
 
m00c0w said:
A small update:

www.11alive.com

Cadaver dogs detect possible hit in water; forensic expert explains how woman's body may have remained afloat in Lake Oconee

Authorities intensify search efforts in Lake Oconee as new clues emerge, while a forensic expert sheds light on key details surrounding the case.
www.11alive.com www.11alive.com

There is also some interesting discussion about the air trapped in her lungs and the phone still being grasped towards the bottom of the article. Short version is the guy states that hypothermia could explain both happenings.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this. I hope they are soon able to recover Gary Jones.
 
m00c0w said:
A small update:

www.11alive.com

Cadaver dogs detect possible hit in water; forensic expert explains how woman's body may have remained afloat in Lake Oconee

Authorities intensify search efforts in Lake Oconee as new clues emerge, while a forensic expert sheds light on key details surrounding the case.
www.11alive.com www.11alive.com

There is also some interesting discussion about the air trapped in her lungs and the phone still being grasped towards the bottom of the article. Short version is the guy states that hypothermia could explain both happenings.
Click to expand...
Perhaps it's possible she held on to the side of the boat for a while, while she was in the water, and then died from hypothermia, not drowning. So just thinking of possible scenarios, maybe he fell out, and then she reached out trying to save him and then she fell in too. Perhaps she was a better swimmer than he was. So she was able to reach back to the boat to hold on. I wonder if her phone went dead when she fell in. Because otherwise, she should have had enough time to call 911. That only takes a minute.
 
www.11alive.com

Timeline for the search for missing Lake Oconee boater

Gary Jones was found Sunday, March 9, a full month after his fiancée, Joycelyn Wilson, was discovered on Feb. 9.
www.11alive.com www.11alive.com

February 19, 2025:

  • Sheriff Sills provided an update, noting that the search had entered its 11th day without locating Jones.
  • Despite some reports, the sheriff said there is no indication that the couple were boating to a restaurant. "I don’t know how they were planning to get back in the dark, with no lights on that boat or anything," he said. However, Sills noted that some of Jones’ family members mentioned he had been looking for a waterfront restaurant for dinner.
  • Sheriff Sills also shared that investigators have recovered some video that could aid in the case, but they won’t be able to review it until Thursday.
Click to expand...
 
A Department of Natural Resources helicopter was also out assisting with the search on Thursday and will likely return when possible.

Cadaver dogs are expected to once again be back on the scene starting on Saturday.
www.fox5atlanta.com

13 days after disappearing, Gary Jones remains missing on Lake Oconee

After the rain delayed much of the searching Wednesday on Lake Oconee, volunteers were back on the water Thursday looking for any sign of Gary Jones.
www.fox5atlanta.com www.fox5atlanta.com
 
“We see the standing timber, we’re looking at large rocks in those areas too and that’s how we locate a body,” Thompson said

“Then we have a TV and computer screen and that has a tethered rope basically that allows us to drop it closer to the lake shore and gives us a clear image. We just want to be able to provide closure for that family and that’s why I do this, and that’s why the rest of our sonar team is out here working, dedicated in these cold temperatures and windy conditions,” Thompson said.
www.wsbtv.com

Lake Oconee search: Channel 2 gets exclusive look at equipment being used to find missing teacher

They’ve been using sonar technology to find Jones in a lake that spans across 5 counties.
www.wsbtv.com www.wsbtv.com

 
First, my apologies for the long winded post. I don't know if this will help us in coming up with ideas about what happened but, thought I would share some observations from someone who has been boating for 50+ years on both larger lakes and the Mississippi River.

Here are the specifications of this boat.

Sun Dolphin boats were sold by the manufacturer without motors or fuel tanks. Companies would buy them direct from the manufacturer and then build them out...adding motor, fuel tank, trolling motor, etc. Or end users would buy them from a retailer and build them out themselves.

The boat was reported to be a 12' boat but that actual size is 11' 3". It is typical to list boats rounded off to length in feet, example a my current bass boat is 17' 7" and is considered an 18' boat. IME, their 12' boat seems very undersized for the size lake they were on, especially taking it out into the main channel where the water is likely to become rough due to weather and/or other (larger) boats. Their boat is more of a small lake boat.

This article states they had an 18 HP motor on the boat. According to the specifications, the max HP for this boat is 15. However, since LE has not said anything about water being in the boat and all the items appeared to be in place, we're not dealing with a capsize or swamping of the boat. This lager motor shouldn't be a huge issue if the didn't run the motor at full throttle and/or exceed the weight capacity of the boat (see more on weight capacity later).

The fuel storage area for this boat is 21"x11.5"x9.5" which would be able accommodate a fuel tank just under 10 gallons. So, at max, they had 9.8 gallon of fuel. An 18 HP 2-stroke motor running at full throttle consumes about 1.5 gallons of fuel per hour. This would be plenty of fuel to get to where the boat was found 7 miles away.

The weight capacity of the boat is 649 pounds. This does not mean just the weight of the passengers, this includes the weight of the passengers, motor, fuel/fuel tank, and any gear in the boat. Their motor (as noted above) is an 18 HP 2-stroke motor, which would be in the weight range of 84-90 lbs, for discussion sake we'll say 90 lbs. A gallon of gas weighs approximately 6 lbs so, if they had a full tank of gas that's around 60 lbs. If they had say another 50 lbs of gear on the boat, that would leave them 449 lbs of leeway for weight capacity. So, unless they weighed more than a combined 449 lbs, which I don't believe to be the case based on pictures, the boat should not have been over capacity. Again, no mention by LE of water being in the boat.
 
STLBlues said:
First, my apologies for the long winded post. I don't know if this will help us in coming up with ideas about what happened but, thought I would share some observations from someone who has been boating for 50+ years on both larger lakes and the Mississippi River.

Here are the specifications of this boat.

Sun Dolphin boats were sold by the manufacturer without motors or fuel tanks. Companies would buy them direct from the manufacturer and then build them out...adding motor, fuel tank, trolling motor, etc. Or end users would buy them from a retailer and build them out themselves.

The boat was reported to be a 12' boat but that actual size is 11' 3". It is typical to list boats rounded off to length in feet, example a my current bass boat is 17' 7" and is considered an 18' boat. IME, their 12' boat seems very undersized for the size lake they were on, especially taking it out into the main channel where the water is likely to become rough due to weather and/or other (larger) boats. Their boat is more of a small lake boat.

This article states they had an 18 HP motor on the boat. According to the specifications, the max HP for this boat is 15. However, since LE has not said anything about water being in the boat and all the items appeared to be in place, we're not dealing with a capsize or swamping of the boat. This lager motor shouldn't be a huge issue if the didn't run the motor at full throttle and/or exceed the weight capacity of the boat (see more on weight capacity later).

The fuel storage area for this boat is 21"x11.5"x9.5" which would be able accommodate a fuel tank just under 10 gallons. So, at max, they had 9.8 gallon of fuel. An 18 HP 2-stroke motor running at full throttle consumes about 1.5 gallons of fuel per hour. This would be plenty of fuel to get to where the boat was found 7 miles away.

The weight capacity of the boat is 649 pounds. This does not mean just the weight of the passengers, this includes the weight of the passengers, motor, fuel/fuel tank, and any gear in the boat. Their motor (as noted above) is an 18 HP 2-stroke motor, which would be in the weight range of 84-90 lbs, for discussion sake we'll say 90 lbs. A gallon of gas weighs approximately 6 lbs so, if they had a full tank of gas that's around 60 lbs. If they had say another 50 lbs of gear on the boat, that would leave them 449 lbs of leeway for weight capacity. So, unless they weighed more than a combined 449 lbs, which I don't believe to be the case based on pictures, the boat should not have been over capacity. Again, no mention by LE of water being in the boat.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all this great info.

I remember one article where one of the searchers (sheriff?) agreed with you that the boat is undersized for parts of the areas where they were.

I also remember one article showed a photo of the boat after it was brought in. I was surprised at how small it seemed, low sides, etc.

Do you think they would have some kind of radio or scanner on the boat to be able to call for help? Or would that not usually be the case in such a small boat?

I'm still trying to envision what could have possibly happened. I think articles also mentioned that life vests were in the boat. If one fell over, you would think the other person would toss a life vest to the person in the water, at a minimum, while trying to help the person. That seems like a pretty basic norm when attempting to help someone who is in the water. I suppose the second person could have fallen in the water while attempting to help the first person. I wonder if either tried to make a 911 or SOS call of any sort? I still think that finding her phone clutched in her hand is bizarre. If she fell over/off the boat, you would think she would have dropped it then. Or if she managed to hang onto it, that she might drop it or let go of it if attempting to get back in the boat.

MOO.
 
vls12345 said:
Thanks for all this great info.

I remember one article where one of the searchers (sheriff?) agreed with you that the boat is undersized for parts of the areas where they were.

I also remember one article showed a photo of the boat after it was brought in. I was surprised at how small it seemed, low sides, etc.

Do you think they would have some kind of radio or scanner on the boat to be able to call for help? Or would that not usually be the case in such a small boat?

I'm still trying to envision what could have possibly happened. I think articles also mentioned that life vests were in the boat. If one fell over, you would think the other person would toss a life vest to the person in the water, at a minimum, while trying to help the person. That seems like a pretty basic norm when attempting to help someone who is in the water. I suppose the second person could have fallen in the water while attempting to help the first person. I wonder if either tried to make a 911 or SOS call of any sort? I still think that finding her phone clutched in her hand is bizarre. If she fell over/off the boat, you would think she would have dropped it then. Or if she managed to hang onto it, that she might drop it or let go of it if attempting to get back in the boat.

MOO.
Click to expand...
I highly doubt they had any type of radio or scanner on the boat. Most recreational boats on inland lakes and rivers do not have those. When we go out in our boat, we both have our cell phones in the event of an emergency.

I don't know about Georgia but, in Missouri, you are required to have one life vest per person in the boat. We keep them stored in various storage compartments so they don't fly out when we're moving fast. In Missouri, you are also required to have a throwable floatation device. We use these as cushions and they also meet the throwable requirement. The boat JW and GJ had does have storage compartments but, I don't think we know if the life vests were in those or out in the open. I haven't seen mentioned if they had throwables either.

The whole clutching the phone seemed odd to me but there was an article linked upthread where a forensic expert stated this could be caused by hypothermia. That expert said that would also explain her having enough air in her lungs (pardon my being graphic) to cause the body to be buoyant. I'm starting to wonder if GJ had a heart attack, fell from the boat, JW panicked and jumped in after him, had trouble getting back in the boat and passed from hypothermia.
 
The fact that there were life vests in the boat makes me more likely think of foul play. Because yeah, the first thing the other person would do when somebody fell in, would be to get a life vest.

For example, if we are going to speculate about foul play, another boat could have come alongside, with a gun, and told them to get onto their boat. And then the male struggled with them, and fell in. And the perp pushed the woman overboard. I mean, it's possible.
 
STLBlues said:
I highly doubt they had any type of radio or scanner on the boat. Most recreational boats on inland lakes and rivers do not have those. When we go out in our boat, we both have our cell phones in the event of an emergency.

I don't know about Georgia but, in Missouri, you are required to have one life vest per person in the boat. We keep them stored in various storage compartments so they don't fly out when we're moving fast. In Missouri, you are also required to have a throwable floatation device. We use these as cushions and they also meet the throwable requirement. The boat JW and GJ had does have storage compartments but, I don't think we know if the life vests were in those or out in the open. I haven't seen mentioned if they had throwables either.

The whole clutching the phone seemed odd to me but there was an article linked upthread where a forensic expert stated this could be caused by hypothermia. That expert said that would also explain her having enough air in her lungs (pardon my being graphic) to cause the body to be buoyant. I'm starting to wonder if GJ had a heart attack, fell from the boat, JW panicked and jumped in after him, had trouble getting back in the boat and passed from hypothermia.
Click to expand...

thanks for your expertise and experience
is it typical for boaters to not wear the lifevests?
 
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