Man drowns in the river at Oconee Greenway

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — A 22-year-old man drowned in the Oconee River in Baldwin County on Sunday.

According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR),  the incident took place around 12:40 on Sunday, when game wardens responded to the drowning at the Oconee Greenway where its reported that 22-year-old Samuel Solano was swimming in the river with some friends. The DNR says Solano began to struggle while swimming, and started going under when one of his friends jumped into the water to try to rescue him– Solano began taking his friend down with him, so the friend had to let him go.

The friend that attempted the rescue made it to shore and was taken to the Navicent Hospital in Milledgeville for treatment.

When game wardens arrived with Baldwin County Fire Rescue, they began using side scan SONAR to find Solano. At around 2:45 p.m., they found him in 9 feet of water. Shortly after, they recovered his body.