We regret to inform you of a drowning death that occurred at Lake Allatoona’s Red Top Mountain State Park on the afternoon of Sunday, September 1, 2013.

Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources spokesman Rick Lavender says the victim — Nicholas Alexander, 23 — was from Atlanta.

According to DNR Law Enforcement Division’s Sgt. Mike Barr, Mr. Alexander was with a family group on a rental boat in the area of the Red Top Mountain State Park swim beach, near the rock jetty, about 75 feet from shore.

Mr. Alexander asked how deep the water was and was told it was deep. He jumped in and, according to accounts, was swimming fine initially.  Then, he began to struggle.

Witnesses on shore said they heard him call for help. Two people on shore tried unsuccessfully to reach him.

Officials with the Department of Natural Resources, Bartow County Fire/EMA and the U.S. Corps of Engineers helped recover Mr. Alexander’s body at 6:18 PM in about 30 feet of water.