Updated: Sept. 4, 2018, 9:27 pm
MADISON, COUNTY FL – On Sunday, September 2, a Valdosta man drowned in Cherry Lake around 4:30 p.m. according to the Madison County Sheriffs Office.
The Cherry Lake Beach and boat ramp was closed on Monday so officials and family could recover the victim’s body, which was not found until Monday morning around 11 a.m. according to Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk.
Reports from residents at Cherry Lake state he was a black male who was attending a family reunion.
The victim’s name, Terry Knowles, 49, was released once the body was found and the family was contacted. Knowles’ obituary from Harrington Funeral Home listed his birthdate as May 30, 1969 and date of death as September 3, 2018.
Sheriff Paulk is worked with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office to recover and ID Knowles’ body.
The Cherry Lake Beach and boat ramp was closed on Monday so officials and the family could recover the victim and reopened later in the afternoon.