Tragic Drowning of Young Boy on Lake Chatuge

On Tuesday, July 15, 2025, Towns County Coroner Tamela Cooper confirmed the accidental drowning of a five-year-old boy in Lake Chatuge.

The child, from a family visiting from Cumming, Georgia, wandered away from a rental property near Sunnyside Road shortly after noon. Unnoticed for less than ten minutes, he fell into the lake.

Emergency responders rushed him to Chatuge Regional Hospital, where medical staff worked for over an hour to save him, but their efforts were unsuccessful due to the time he spent underwater.

Original article by Jeff Batten, published in the WJRB 95.1/WJUL 97.7