Body of missing Atlanta teacher, coach found in Lake Oconee: sheriff

The Brief

• The body of Westminster Schools educator and coach, Gary Jones, has been found on Lake Oconee.

• Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said a roving device was used to find him in about 45 feet of water.

• This comes exactly a week after part of the search effort was suspended due to weather concerns.

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. – After 29 long days of searching, the body of Atlanta educator, Gary Jones, has been found on Lake Oconee.

This comes a month after Jones and his fiancée, Joycelyn Wilson, vanished during a boating trip, and exactly one week after part of the search effort was suspended.

Where is Gary Jones?

What we know

Sheriff Howard Sills told FOX 5 Atlanta he was out searching for Jones at 9 a.m. on Sunday, alongside Keith Cormican – owner of Search and Recovery Consulting and founder of the non-profit Bruce’s Legacy – and Cormican’s assistant.

At approximately noon, they found Gary Jones using a roving device. Sills said Jones was around 75 to 100 yards away from where Wilson’s body was located a month ago. He was in about 45 feet of water.

At 1 p.m., he was retrieved from the water.

What they’re saying

Sheriff Sills said he was incredibly grateful to everyone who participated in the search for Wilson and Jones.

What happened to Gary Jones, Joycelyn Wilson on Lake Oconee?

The backstory

Jones and Wilson were at the lake on Feb. 8 to celebrate Jones’ 50th birthday.

Their empty boat was discovered that afternoon near the lake’s dam.

A search team found Wilson’s body the following day near Jones’ shoes, wallet and other personal belongings.

Since then, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills has activated what he called the county’s largest search effort to find someone believed to have drowned.

For 22 days, cadaver dogs and diving teams from multiple states have given their time to find any trace of Jones.

Search efforts had to be suspended multiple times due to weather concerns. Last Sunday, Sills announced the dogs and divers would be sidelined indefinitely.

“It’s conceivable it could be months before this body surfaces,” he said at the time.

Wilson and Jones were planning to get married this month, according to their friends.

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What’s next

Sills told FOX 5 Atlanta he was at the coroner’s office.

Jones’ cause of death has yet to be determined. However, Sills said he believed this was the tragic outcome of a boating accident.

“All the evidence at this time, that’s what it points to, yes,” he said.

This story is breaking. Check back for details. If you have additional information, pictures, or video email newstipsatlanta@fox.com.

Who is Keith Cormican? Wisconsin man finds Gary Jones

Dig deeper

Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Howard Sills said he was with a man named Keith Cormican Sunday afternoon when Jones’ body was found.

Cormican is the Wisconsin-based owner of Search and Recovery Consulting, LLC. Through Bruce’s Legacy, the non-profit that he founded in 2013 in his brother’s memory, Cormican has assisted in recovering over 20 drowning victims.

For almost two decades, Cormican has used his knack for finding people in deep bodies of water to train up the next generation of skilled emergency response divers.

He’s certified to use sonar, boats and various other pieces of equipment to aid recovery.

Bruce’s Legacy was created in memory of Keith’s brother, a Black River Falls firefighter who died trying to conduct a search for a drowning victim on Aug. 21, 1995.

According to the non-profit’s website, the brothers talked extensively about the need for a dive rescue unit before Bruce’s untimely death. Since then, Cormican has made it his mission to help rescue as many people as he can. His mission is to make searches safer and more efficient for dive teams, law enforcement and the impacted families.

The Source

FOX 5 Atlanta interviewed Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills for the information reported in this story on March 9, 2025.