Norris Lake Drowning Victim Identified

Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's Office has positively identified a man whose body was recovered from Norris Lake on Monday, as Roberto Santillanes-Carrillo of Atlanta.

The official cause of death is drowning, according to Ted Bailey, chief forensic investigator with the medical examiner's office. Santillanes-Carrillo's last known address was in Atlanta, he said.

Santillanes-Carrillo, 45, drowned in Norris Lake Saturday after the kayak he was in capsized. He was taking a break from building a boat deck at a nearby home. Officials said that he could not swim and was not wearing a life jacket.

Fire fighters were dispatched to the scene about 12:11 p.m. on Saturday; they arrived to find citizens in canoes trying to make a rescue. Divers then tried four times to locate the man before ending the search for the day.

Emergency workers were back on the scene Sunday and Monday searching for the victim. Divers recovered the man's body about 3:10 p.m. on Monday, with the help of sonar devices and cadaver dogs.

Several agencies assisted in the search and recovery efforts throughout the three days, including Gwinnett, DeKalb, Forsyth and Dawson counties and a volunteer K-9 team from metro Atlanta.