Crews find body of swimmer lost in Neuse River on Tuesday, marking 4th death in 2 months

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A body has been recovered from the Neuse River after a man went underneath the water and did not resurface.

It happened before noon on Tuesday. An emergency call went to 911 about a swimmer possibly drowning near the Neuse River Greenway Trail and Loch Raven Parkway.

Eleven different agencies rushed to the scene to help the Wake County Sheriff's Office. That included two dive teams -- one from Durham and the other from Durham County.

But hours later, rain and darkness forced search crews to stop for the night.

Crews resumed the search Wednesday morning. At around 11:20 a.m. they found the missing man's body and pulled it to shore.

On Thursday, authorities identified the man as 59-year-old George Warren Williams.

This comes after a 32-year-old man drowned Sunday in a similar area. The same thing happened last month ... and the month before that.

That's four suspected drownings in the same area of the Neuse River so far this year. First responders said they usually have maybe 1-2 such calls each year.

"It just seems to be something that's picked up this year at this particular location, and I have no reason as to why," Josh Creighton said. "I don't think there's anything you can do to keep people off the river. It's summertime. It's hot. People enjoy going into the water. It's accessible up and down for miles and miles. So people just need to be conscious of their own swimming ability,

The area in question is a canoe launch location. It's not designated as a swimming area because of the risks. Still, the City of Raleigh is installing a gate and closing public access to the river temporarily, as they assess whether permanent changes should be made.

Neighbors said this sort of thing is happening too frequently.

"It's very shallow, but there is a place where it gets really deep, and I think that's probably what happened because you can't tell that it's coming up," Develynne Camack said.

First responders said it's important for people to stay away from the river entirely if they're not strong swimmers. Even if they are, they should bring a flotation device.

"Just because you think you can see the bottom of the water and you think it's safe to walk out there, it's absolutely not," Knightdale Fire Department Captain Aidan Scheehan said. "This river changes so much. It changes on a daily basis. The currents change, the clarity changes, water levels, all that stuff.