An unmanned boat circling Lake Oconee on Saturday drew the attention of onlookers.
The next day, the body of a Spelman College professor was found, but her companion, a coach at the Westminster Schools, remains missing, officials said.
According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, game wardens were notified late Saturday of the vessel circling near Wallace Dam on the edge of Putnam and Hancock counties. By the time wardens made it to the boat, it no longer had power.
Witnesses told wardens that a man and a woman had been aboard the boat earlier in the day, and officers immediately began searching the area with sonar equipment, authorities said.
By 10 a.m. Sunday, the woman’s body had been recovered. She was identified as Joycelyn Nicole Wilson, 49, of Atlanta, DNR spokesperson Mark McKinnon said.
Officials continued searching for the man throughout Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but he has not been found.
A spokesperson for Spelman said Wilson joined the faculty in 2007 after teaching at Howard University and American University in Washington. She held the position of program director of the Spelman/Salem STEM Mentoring Program and the Women in Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering Program. Most recently, Wilson served as program director for the Mathematics Research and Mentoring Program, and she was a member of the mathematics department.
“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the death of a highly respected member of the Spelman College community, Senior Instructor Joycelyn Wilson,” the spokesperson said in an email. “We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends and the many people whose lives she touched.”
Westminster, a private school in Atlanta, said in a statement that one of its coaches, Gary Jones, had gone missing while spending time at an area lake. His name has not been released by the DNR.
“Gary Jones is a beloved Westminster faculty member, coach and parent,” school spokesperson Liz Ball said in an email. “Our entire community is praying for his safe return and for his family during this difficult moment.”
According to the school’s website, Jones coaches varsity track and field.
No other information about the incident has been shared by authorities.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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