A strong current and high waters

are being blamed as causes that led to the drowning of a local 13-year-old

boy Sunday afternoon in Line Creek.

Authorities said Michael Hunter,

a seventh grader at Whitewater Middle School, was attempting to swim across

the creek near the Line Creek Estates subdivision when he was pulled underwater.

Another youth attempted to rescue the boy, to no avail, said Maj. Bruce

Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department.

The boy's body was found Monday

morning after 10 a.m. by searchers from the Fayette County Marshal's Department,

who were manning a boat. Dive teams from the Fayette County Department

of Fire and Emergency Services, the Fayette County Sheriff's Department

and the Peachtree City Fire and Rescue Department also took part in the

search, which began Sunday afternoon and was temporarily called off just

after dark that evening. Clayton County's Police Department also sent

a dive team and its helicopter to aid in the search of the area.

The waters of the creek had

risen dramatically after Friday's storm, said Jack Krakeel, the director

of emergency services for Fayette County.

The creek's level is usually

around three or four feet, but it had risen to around eight feet thanks

to Friday night's rainstorm, authorities said.

Krakeel said the incident serves

as a reminder to residents to stay away from bodies of water, especially

after heavy rains and in the winter when the water is very cold.

"Both children and adults

can overestimate their ability to swim in water that strong," Krakeel

said of the swift currents that pulled Hunter underwater.

The water temperature was measured

around 60 degrees at the time of the incident.

The first crews arrived on

the scene six minutes after the call was received around 2 p.m. Sunday,

said Capt. Pete Nelms of the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency

Services. The dive team was on the scene 45 minutes later, he said.

The dive teams worked two-hour

shifts in searching the waters. The body was discovered in a logjam about

30 yards from where the divers were searching, Jordan said.

Hunter had been visiting friends

in the neighborhood, Krakeel said.