An Atlanta man is dead after he fell off a boat Friday morning during a overnight group fishing trip in Troup County, authorities said.
Game wardens were notified around 6:25 a.m. of a possible drowning on West Point Lake near the Alabama border, according to Mark McKinnon, spokesman with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
McKinnon said Troup deputies learned that three men took the boat out around 9:30 p.m. Thursday and tied it under the Ga. 109 bridge in the central portion of the lake to fish.
At around 6 a.m., 58-year-old Reginal Keith Crane fell off the back of the boat, went under the water and quickly resurfaced. The other occupants, believed to be a friend and a relative, heard Crane fall off and struggled to find him amid the darkness, deputies said. They eventually pulled him onboard, but he fell unconscious.
The two men performed CPR until EMS arrived and took him to Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center in LaGrange. Crane died at the hospital.
McKinnon said it doesn’t appear foul play was involved. A cause of death wasn’t provided, but deputies believe he could have drowned or suffered a medical episode.
An investigation is ongoing.
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