Body found in Newnans Lake

A body was found in Newnans Lake on Monday afternoon.

Alachua County deputies believe it is 61 year old, Ermon Owens Jr. Owens is a Gainesville resident who went missing over the weekend.

On Saturday, March 3rd, someone called in about a boat drifting on Newnans Lake. When deputies arrived, they were able to match the boat number to a trailer in the parking lot, that belonged to Owens Jr.

Deputies are investigating if the death is foul play, medically related, or an accident.

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A man declared missing at Newnans lake Saturday night is been found dead, two days later.

We started the day thinking this was still a missing persons search, but found out a body and been found while interviewing a Sheriff's information officer.

Sixty one year old Ermon Owens Jr, was initially declared missing when his boat was found empty on Newnans lake.

Art Forgey, A sheriff's office information officer said "Saturday night we received a call from some folks who were out on the lake who had found a boat that was adrift on the lake with no one in it."

He was identified when the hull numbers on his boat were matched to his vehicle at the boat ramp, and family members confirmed it was his boat and told sheriffs deputies he had gone fishing.

Forgey said "They told us he had gone fishing that day, wasn't unusual for him to go out and go fishing that was part of his routine, that was what he liked to do."

The two day search involved ground and air search parties.

Brett Rhodenizer also works with as an Alachua County sheriff's information officer. He was on scene as a searcher and he explained "You had helicopters, you had boat, you had divers in the water using all available equipment including infrared sensors as well as sonar to try and find Mr. Owens."

Family members at the boat launch did not wish to be interviewed, Rhodenizer however knows Owens' son and hopes finding his body will bring closure to the family.

"Mr. Owens clearly by the amount of family and support thats been out here is a well loved member of the community, close to his family and our hearts go out to them. They have each other now and we're just happy we were able to, it took us a couple of days but we were able to provide the family closure by finding Mr Owens and allowing him to go with his family."

Although the death is being investigated as suspicious, officials say there are no signs of foul play and are waiting for the medical examiner to declare a cause of death to help figure out what caused Owens to end up in the water.