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Two found dead in boat on Lake Lanier
Three total fatalities on water during holiday weekend
Lake Lanier
Lake Lanier as seen from the air in July 2017. - photo by Nick Bowman

Authorities say that three people died on Lake Lanier over the Memorial Day weekend in Forsyth and Hall counties.

A man and woman were found dead Monday evening inside a boat anchored off an island in Lake Lanier.

Julie Wright, 40, and Andrew Maronge, 39, both of North Forsyth County, were found at about 11 p.m. May 28 in the front cabin of a 24-foot Bayliner cabin cruiser off the Three Sisters Island chain in North Forsyth, authorities said.

Brown said that the two individuals were found at about 11 p.m. by a DNR patrol boat, after they did not return to meet friends and a welfare check was requested.

Deputy Jenny Belafi, spokeswoman for the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office said they believe that the deaths were likely due to carbon monoxide poisoning, but incident is still under investigation.

The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources were involved in the incident.

In Hall County, the body of 19-year-old Stephen Frederick of Peachtree Corners was recovered from Lake Lanier late Sunday night after the man apparently jumped from the second story of a dock and never resurfaced.

Hall County Fire Services responded to the 6700 block of Bass Circle at about 9:20 p.m., and the department’s marine rescue team found Frederick’s body about an hour later.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Hall County Sheriff's Office assisted in the search, and the Hall County Sheriff’s Office will be investigating the incident.

Foul play is not suspected at this time, and the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office will be performing the autopsy, according to the sheriff’s office.

Division Chief Jason Shivers of the Forsyth County Fire Department said that beyond the two lake incidents, the holiday weekend was fairly average.

He said that between 5 p.m. Friday and 12 a.m. Tuesday morning, the fire department responded to little over 100 incidents, and had no structure fires or other serious incidents reported through that period.

Megan Reed and Shannon Casas contributed to this report