Swimmer's body recovered from Neuse River after 5-hour search, sheriff's office says

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The body of a swimmer was recovered from the Neuse River after a five-hour search Saturday afternoon.

The Wake County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to calls about a possible drowning near the Neuse River Greenway Trail and Loch Raven Parkway just after 4 p.m.

The sheriff's office said a man was spending time with his family and went swimming. The man then went underwater and never resurfaced.

Multiple agencies responded to the hours-long search, authorities said. His body was recovered just before 9 p.m.

The man's identity has not been released.

Chris Gillespie was doing construction work on the other river bank and told ABC11 the river is a popular spot for people to hang out...

"All evening I'll see people up and down the bank and stuff out here fishing, hanging out, and it seems like they're having a good time," he said.

But Gillespie also said he knows it can be dangerous. The current can move fast and you need to be careful.

Just two weeks before crews recovered a man's body who went underwater in the same area and never popped back up.

He said he lost a friend to a drowning years ago and knows just how terrifying it can be as families are left waiting and praying

"There's no telling, there's rocks underneath the water, might be slippery, someone could stand on the rocks and bump their head. There's no telling what happened," he said.

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