April 6, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
The body of a man was found floating face down in Center Hill Lake this (Wednesday) afternoon at the Johnson’s Chapel Recreation area only a few feet from the boat ramp in about 3-4 feet of water.
According to Sheriff Patrick Ray the body was nude except for the pair of socks he was wearing and although identification was found tucked in one of the socks, no name is being released pending a positive identification. The body has been sent to Nashville for an autopsy.
Sheriff Ray said the identification found on the body matches that of a man reported missing last month in an adjoining county.
“Today at 1:23 p.m. there was a 911 transfer call from the White County to DeKalb County Central Dispatch. The caller stated that there was a body in the water floating near the bank and boat ramp at Johnson’s Chapel. When we arrived on the scene, we found the body of a white male. We called the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad and TWRA and they assisted in retrieving the body from the water and bringing it to the bank. The body was naked. The only thing he had on was a pair of socks. His identification was in his sock. We think we know who the male is. We believe him to be from a surrounding county,” said Sheriff Ray.
The discovery was made by a fisherman
“A man came to the area to check the lake to see if it (lake level) was up because he was going to go fishing when he noticed something near the boat ramp. At first, he thought it was an animal but as he got a closer look, he found it to be a human body. Because of the poor phone service in that area, the man went to the top of the hill to call 911 which did a transfer to White County and then the White County 911 center transferred it to DeKalb County,” added Sheriff Ray.