Lanier Divers Find Body of Missing Teen

The rescue efforts on Lake Lanier apparently have found the body of Griffin Prince, the Buford teen who had been missing since the recent boating collision on Lake Lanier.

In a press release, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources gave the details of the recovery on Wednesday evening. Officials said divers had recovered the body of Griffin Prince, 13, in about 113 feet of water in the Shoal Creek area on southern Lanier at approximately 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

The search had lasted nine days and involved more than 10 agencies and organizations officials said. The incident began at about 10:30 p.m. on June 18 when a pontoon boat carrying the teen and 12 other people was hit by another boat in Shoal Creek on Lake Lanier. Griffin’s 9-year-old brother, Jake Prince of Buford, was also killed. 

The operator of the other boat - Paul J. Bennett, 44, of Cumming, who owns a salon in Johns Creek - was arrested by Wildlife Resources Division conservation rangers and charged with Boating Under the Influence.

"The first priority was closure for the family," said DNR Maj. Stephen Adams in the release. "Now we can focus solely on the boating incident investigation."

That investigation includes the Wildlife Resources Division’s Critical Incident Reconstruction Team as well as the Hall County District Attorney’s Office.

The search for the missing teen included divers and other personnel from agencies including Forsyth, Hall, Gwinnett and Cobb counties, the FBI, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Georgia State Patrol.

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