Family friend remembers 5-year-old boy who drown on Lake Allatoona

BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. - A community is in mourning after a five-year-old drowned on Lake Allatoona over the weekend.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources discovered the little boy's body in Bartow County on Saturday afternoon.

A close friend of 5-year-old Kaiden Franklin's family said his loved ones are going through a roller coaster of emotions right now. They are leaning on each other as they face this harsh reality.

"That little boy never met a stranger," family friend Tara Carman said. "He had the heart of gold."

Carman said Kaiden's was one of the best kids she's ever met, and he loved to play baseball.

"He literally loved to make anyone smile. If he did anything and noticed you were smiling, or you was laughing, he would do it again. He would do anything to brighten you day," Carman detailed. 

Brighter days will be hard for Kaiden’s family and everyone in their close-knit community.

"I'm so heartbroken that he's gone," Carman detailed. 

Kaiden Franklin (Model Elementary School)

Tragically, the little boy who "had a heart of gold" drowned Saturday afternoon in Clear Creek on Lake Allatoona in Bartow County.

The DNR said witnesses told them the boy was playing on a float just before he went under.

DNR game wardens found Kaiden using a side scan sonar about two hours after he was reported missing. He was found in approximately six feet of water.

"They're just asking for prayers and condolences, and they're just trying to get through it. Do the best they can to put the pieces together the best that they can," Carman detailed. 

Loved ones said Kaiden recently graduated from Kindergarten at Model Elementary School in Rome. The school posted a few pictures on their Facebook page of him.

"You couldn’t know that kid and not love him. He was just an amazing little boy," Carman explained. 

Donations are being collected to help Kaiden's family right now.