By Laura French
COLUMBIA COUNTY, Ga. — The body of a Georgia fire lieutenant who went missing during an off-duty boating trip on Friday was recovered after a day-long search, officials say.
Augusta Fire Lt. Ralph Jenkins, 60, was boating on Clarks Hill Lake at the Lake Springs Recreation area in Columbia County when he “went into the water for unknown reasons and never resurfaced,” a Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) spokesperson told WJBF.
A search effort was launched that included patrol boats with sonar and a Columbia County dive team. The Georgia DNR, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and Columbia County Fire Department participated in the search, which went into the early morning hours of Saturday.
Jenkin’s body was ultimately located by game wardens at about 9:40 a.m. Saturday morning using side-scan sonar technology, officials said. Divers recovered his body from water that was more than 30-feet deep.
“The Department is confident the Columbia County Fire Department, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies did their best to try to save Lt. Jenkins,” Augusta Fire Department officials said in a statement. "... The details that led to this terrible event are still being investigated, and the Department respects that process.”
DNR Cpl. Bobby Timmerman said witnesses have given different accounts of how Jenkins went into the lake and that officials are currently investigating whether his boat may have floated toward a restricted area of the lake and become entangled in the barriers as he tried to turn around.
Timmerman said there have been an unusual amount of drownings in the area recently, with at least four fatal incidents in the last four weeks.
Family members told WRDW that Jenkins was an avid boater and fisherman. He is remembered as a valuable leader and mentor with a lively personality.
“On behalf of the entire Augusta firefighting community, I am disheartened to report this crushing loss of one of our own,” Augusta Interim Fire Chief Saw Williams Jr. said in a statement. “Lt. Jenkins came from a firefighting family, was known in the Department as a person who could be counted on for a good laugh, and served the people of Augusta, Georgia for 40 years.”