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

[vls12345]

Search for missing Atlanta coach intensifies as Lake Oconee current slowed

Gary Jones's impact on his students at The Westminster School was apparent as students wrote thank-you notes to volunteers assisting in the search.

www.11alive.com

On Saturday, search teams got assistance from Georgia Power, who cut off electricity to the dam on the lake. Bahls and others helping in the search hope that will minimize the currents so the two cadaver water dog teams and volunteers can locate Jones.

 

[concernedcitizen706]

More on possible foul play scenario. A boat pulls up next to them. Of course the perp acts friendly at first, but then pulls out a gun, and wants the female to get in his boat. So she does start to get into his boat. While she does that, the husband jumps up and tries to lunge at the perp to fight him off. While they are fighting, the female jumps back into the water and swims back to their boat. She's holding on to the other side of a boat, where she is not visible to perp, trying to use her phone. But she can't, because it doesn't work. The perp is not winning and he just pushes the husband into the water. And the perp takes off, because he doesn't want to use the gun in daylight. Or maybe the husband managed to knock the gun into the water. So the perp gets away fast. The husband cannot swim well. He's further away from their boat at this point. He's already exhausted from the struggle. So he goes under. The wife clings on to the boat for a while until she's a succumbs to hypothermia.

 

[STLBlues]

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

Sorry for the delay in responding, I wasn't online all weekend. I would say the vast majority of boaters on lakes and rivers in the U.S. do not wear life vests. Normally, the only people I see wearing them are small children.

 

[LadyL]

Sorry for the delay in responding, I wasn't online all weekend. I would say the vast majority of boaters on lakes and rivers in the U.S. do not wear life vests. Normally, the only people I see wearing them are small children.

I can't swim so there's no way I woudn't have one on and I do wonder if Joycelyn and Gary could swim.

 

[vls12345]

I can't swim so there's no way I woudn't have one on and I do wonder if Joycelyn and Gary could swim.

I do remember one article saying both knew how to swim.

 

[LadyL]

I do remember one article saying both knew how to swim.

oh wow that makes this even stranger

 

[vls12345]

oh wow that makes this even stranger

Not necessarily. Even good swimmers can get in trouble. Someone could have hit their head as they fell, the water could have been rough/choppy (as well as quite cold), they could have both fallen out but were unable to get back in the boat, etc. MOO.

 

[STLBlues]

Not necessarily. Even good swimmers can get in trouble. Someone could have hit their head as they fell, the water could have been rough/choppy (as well as quite cold), they could have both fallen out but were unable to get back in the boat, etc. MOO.

I cannot find (without joining a website) the water temps for the day this happened, but according to this website, the water temps in February are between 39f (night) and 56f (day). This is pretty darn cold.

Here's what the National Weather Service says about falling into cold water. Some snippets from the NWS:
Fifty five degree water may not sound very cold, but it can be deadly.
Cold water quickly removes heat from the body which could lead to cold water shock within the first minute, loss of muscle control within 10 minutes or hypothermia within 20 to 30 minutes.
When your body hits cold water, “cold shock” can cause dramatic changes in breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. The sudden gasp and rapid breathing alone creates a greater risk of drowning even for confident swimmers in calm waters.

 

[vls12345]

Crews persist in search for missing Atlanta coach on Lake Oconee | Latest update

Gary Jones, a coach at Westminster Schools in Atlanta, disappeared on the lake 17 days ago. Crews are still searching for him.

www.11alive.com

 

[vls12345]

Sheriff says despite speculation, he believes missing teacher is still in Lake Oconee

The sheriff says he's heard the rumors that Gary Jones is alive and well somewhere else, but he doesn't believe them.

www.wsbtv.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“Thank you so much for spending your whole week and weekend looking for our beloved Coach Jones! Everybody at Westminster appreciates your sacrifice. We deeply thank you for your tireless efforts,” one student wrote.

“We have been hearing about your efforts to find our beloved Coach Jones at Lake Oconee. We appreciate your hard work. Thank you for being there for our school,” another note read

Students send thank you notes to crews searching Lake Oconee for missing teacher

"Thank you so much for spending your whole week and weekend looking for our beloved Coach Jones."

www.wsbtv.com

 

[GeorgiaPeach1]

This whole situation perplexes me. I live in Georgia, so I’ve been following it closely over the past couple of weeks, and one thing that’s really been on my mind is why they decided to go out on the water so late in the afternoon.

At first, I thought maybe it had to do with their hotel’s check-in time—most places have check-in around 3 PM, and their hotel’s website confirms that was the case. From what I’ve read, they didn’t actually get on the water until around 4 PM, which is strange considering it gets dark early in the winter. Sunset that day was at 6:16 PM, and based on what the sheriff said, traveling seven miles would’ve taken about an hour and a half in that small boat. If they turned around at the seven-mile mark at 5:30 PM, they wouldn’t have made it back until around 7 PM—after dark. That makes me wonder… did they really plan to go that far, and if so, why leave so late?

Then there’s the other part that doesn’t make sense—how is it that everything on the boat was still there (food, wallet, life jackets, even a cake), but both of them are missing? I also wonder if they ate any of the cookie cake? Why bring it on the boat if you're not going to eat it?

Also, I read that hypothermia could start setting in within about 30 minutes. Gary’s phone last pinged at 5:06 PM, and the 911 call came in around 5:30 PM, meaning there was roughly a 20-minute gap between the last time his phone was active and when help was called. Is that enough time for her to pass and then float? How long does it usually take for a body to surface in conditions like that? I wonder when her phone last pinged since it was still in her hand. So many unanswered questions.

 

[truthfinder2019]

“We were able to zoom in on video of when they launched the boat, and his shoes were clearly not tied," Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told WGXA News on Tuesday.
…
…the cold weather and the cold water preventing normal surfacing…

Sheriff Sills explained that given the current lake temperatures, a body would typically begin to surface between 14 and 24 days after entering the water.

Search for missing coach Gary Jones reaches day 17 as efforts continue at Lake Oconee

The search for Gary Jones, a faculty member and coach at Westminster Schools in Atlanta, entered its 17th day on Tuesday. Jones was last known to be seen Februa

wgxa.tv

 

[STLBlues]

This whole situation perplexes me. I live in Georgia, so I’ve been following it closely over the past couple of weeks, and one thing that’s really been on my mind is why they decided to go out on the water so late in the afternoon.

At first, I thought maybe it had to do with their hotel’s check-in time—most places have check-in around 3 PM, and their hotel’s website confirms that was the case. From what I’ve read, they didn’t actually get on the water until around 4 PM, which is strange considering it gets dark early in the winter. Sunset that day was at 6:16 PM, and based on what the sheriff said, traveling seven miles would’ve taken about an hour and a half in that small boat. If they turned around at the seven-mile mark at 5:30 PM, they wouldn’t have made it back until around 7 PM—after dark. That makes me wonder… did they really plan to go that far, and if so, why leave so late?

RSBM - I must have previously missed the time of day they launched and this brings up an interesting question. Was their boat equipped with navigation lights? If not, I wonder how long they were planning on being out on the water? If they were going to be out after dark, Georgia law requires the use of navigation lights.

From the link to Georgia law:
All motorized Class A, Class 1, and Class 2 vessels being operated during the hours of darkness or low visibility shall display either a 20 point combination red and green light on the bow, or else ten-point red and green side lights properly screened and visible for a distance of at least one mile, plus a 20 point white light displayed in the fore part of the vessel and visible for a distance of three miles displayed three feet above the combination or side lights, plus a 12 point white stern light visible for a distance of at least two miles.

Their boat would be considered a Class A boat as it is under 16'.
Class A - Under 16'
Class 1 - 16' to <26'
Class 2 - 26' to <40'

 

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[STLBlues]

RSBM - I must have previously missed the time of day they launched and this brings up an interesting question. Was their boat equipped with navigation lights? If not, I wonder how long they were planning on being out on the water? If they were going to be out after dark, Georgia law requires the use of navigation lights.

From the link to Georgia law:
All motorized Class A, Class 1, and Class 2 vessels being operated during the hours of darkness or low visibility shall display either a 20 point combination red and green light on the bow, or else ten-point red and green side lights properly screened and visible for a distance of at least one mile, plus a 20 point white light displayed in the fore part of the vessel and visible for a distance of three miles displayed three feet above the combination or side lights, plus a 12 point white stern light visible for a distance of at least two miles.

Their boat would be considered a Class A boat as it is under 16'.
Class A - Under 16'
Class 1 - 16' to <26'
Class 2 - 26' to <40'

Quoting myself as I found the answer on navigation lights.

From the link:

Navigation Lights​

The Pro 120 comes with navigation lights at the bow and a detachable stern light.

While this may not be the most exciting feature it is something that the other plastic fishing boats do not offer. It just might be a deciding factor for your boat purchase.

 

[GeorgiaPeach1]

Quoting myself as I found the answer on navigation lights.

From the link:

Navigation Lights​

The Pro 120 comes with navigation lights at the bow and a detachable stern light.

While this may not be the most exciting feature it is something that the other plastic fishing boats do not offer. It just might be a deciding factor for your boat purchase.

In the article, the sheriff mentioned that the boat had lights, but they didn’t work because there was no battery. It also says the empty boat was spotted at 5:24 PM—just 18 minutes after Gary’s phone last pinged at 5:06 PM. That got me thinking—can a phone ping underwater?
His phone was working at 5:06 PM, and by 5:24 PM, both of them—and his phone—were completely gone. I thought about the possibility of foul play, but it seems unlikely that he could have disappeared for this long without help from someone. That said, we can’t ignore the fact that the search was delayed for a day because of bad weather. If something shady did happen and he’s not actually in the lake, that lost time would have given him a whole day to get away.
Then there’s the boat—there was no damage, which makes me doubt they hit something that threw them into the water. If the force had been that strong, you’d think more stuff from the boat would have ended up in the water too.

But the part that really sticks with me is that she was still gripping her phone. That makes me feel like whatever happened was sudden and intense—not a slow loss of consciousness.

Lost on Oconee: A boat empty, a woman dead, a man missing, few answers

On Georgia's Lake Oconee, the mystery builds after woman found floating, dead, and her fiance can't be found after boat trip.

www.ajc.com

 

[vls12345]

I'll have to find the article and when I do I'll post it here. The sheriff said the boat had lights but the battery was not attached..in other words, the light didn't work.

Boating couple may have been headed to restaurant on Lake Oconee, sheriff says

Funeral arrangements have been set for a Spelman instructor as officials postpone the search for her fiance, a Westminster teacher, due to weather.

www.ajc.com

Agree. In one article, the sheriff pointed out no lights so he was kind of discrediting the idea (posited by family? others?) that they may have been using the boat to go to dinner. Because if that had been the case, their return would have definitely been after dark and he pointed out they had no lights working on the boat. Iirc and MOO.

 

[Jade]

I can’t imagine going that far out and away into the lake in that little boat on a winter evening. They are so flimsy and not that much fun for taking a ride long distances.

But experience is hard won sometimes.

Many years ago my husband and I went out in a metal john boat on the main channel of the TN River. It stalled. As he was trying to restart it repeatedly it started with a surge. The jolt threw him out of the boat and sent me in the boat, gripping the sides, in a circle headed right back towards his bobbing head. Somehow it missed him and stalled again then even in jeans and construction boots he got to the boat. Then it really wouldn’t start and we were stuck in the middle of the river in nowhere Alabama in the main lane of travel for barges.

Fortunately there was a single paddle and eventually we made it back to the dock ok.

If cell phones had been invented my fingers would have had a death grip on it too.


all imo

 

[GeorgiaPeach1]

I can’t imagine going that far out and away into the lake in that little boat on a winter evening. They are so flimsy and not that much fun for taking a ride long distances.

But experience is hard won sometimes.

Many years ago my husband and I went out in a metal john boat on the main channel of the TN River. It stalled. As he was trying to restart it repeatedly it started with a surge. The jolt threw him out of the boat and sent me in the boat, gripping the sides, in a circle headed right back towards his bobbing head. Somehow it missed him and stalled again then even in jeans and construction boots he got to the boat. Then it really wouldn’t start and we were stuck in the middle of the river in nowhere Alabama in the main lane of travel for barges.

Fortunately there was a single paddle and eventually we made it back to the dock ok.

If cell phones had been invented my fingers would have had a death grip on it too.


all imo

This is a great point. In another article, the sheriff said some part of the motor was opened. So perhaps, it stalled and Gary was trying to fix it and it started suddenly and threw them both out of the boat. Just one of my opinions...that would fit with my "sudden & intense" theory. But, I agree...they shouldn't have been that far out on that tiny boat. I'm not a fan of the water so there's no way I would've been out in deep water in that.