Following a four-day search, rescue crews recovered the body of a Georgia fisherman who went missing following a boating accident on Weiss Lake Tuesday evening, May 18. The man was identified as Jerry Marvin Coker, 68, whose body was found early Saturday morning, May 22, near a buoy where he was last seen, according to reports.

Drowning was listed as the official cause of death, said Cherokee County Coroner Don Rogers.

The search, according to reports, began around Tuesday evening around 6:30 p.m. after Coker was thrown from his boat after hitting a log.

A witness in the area, Savannah Place Subdivision off Money’s Bend Road in Cedar Bluff, said he heard a loud noise, which he thought, was a car crash and called 9-1-1.

The caller said he saw a person in the water circling the subject in a boat. He heard a cry for help and attempted to assist by traveling to the sight on his jet-ski. The man apparently already went under however.

Witness reports indicated that the man was not wearing a lifejacket and failed to use his kill switch. The boat later hit the pier and stalled in the water.

The search continued until 1 a.m. Wednesday morning and resumed at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, reports said.

Emergency crews were still searching late Friday afternoon. Several Rescue Squad members and other emergency responders were unable to attend the Annual Cherokee EMS Picnic and Cookout celebration Friday afternoon, so food was delivered to them at the search sight, according to reports.

From the tag number on the boat, authorities believed the boater to be from Bartow County, Ga. and later discovered Coker’s identity, according to reports.

Responding agencies who assisted in the search included Cherokee County Rescue Squad, Piedmont Rescue Squad, Cedar Bluff Fire Department, Centre Fire Department, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, Cedar Bluff Police Department, Cherokee EMS, air units from Life Force and Etowah County Sheriff’s Department. Specially-trained search dogs from Huntsville Emergency Services also called to the scene Thursday to assist, reports said.