DNR reports at least 9 Memorial Day Weekend waterway deaths

BUTTS COUNTY, Ga. - The Georgia Department of Natural Resources reported there were at least nine waterway deaths during Memorial Day weekend. 

Five of those deaths happened in one deadly boat crash on the Wilmington River on Saturday. Four members of a family of five and another man died: 51-year-old Christopher Leffler, 50-year-old Lori Lynn Leffler, 23-year-old Zachary James Leffler, 17-year-old Nathan Leffler and 37-year-old Robert Steven Chauncey.

There were four drownings at lakes in north Georgia. A 5-year-old drowned on Saturday in Allatoona Lake when he was playing on a float and then went missing. The boy was identified as Kaiden Franklin. A 20-year-old man, identified as Jose Camarillo, drowned at Margaritaville on Lake Lanier. The DNR reported an additional drowning in the Acworth area.

A man never came out of the Ocmulgee River in Wilcox County after jumping from about 20 feet above the river. Civilians and DNR wardens recovered the man's body.

In Butts County, officials said a 10-year-old girl was hit by a propeller while climbing onto a boat. Her condition is unknown after she went to Bibb County Hospital for treatment. 

The DNR and other law enforcement agencies held a press conference focused on boating and highway safety on Monday morning. The DNR said it charged 40 people with BUI between Saturday morning and Monday night.