ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — Rescue crews and divers recovered the body of a 19-year-old man Wednesday afternoon in High Rock Lake in Rowan County, officials said.
Channel 9 was told the young man was swimming with friends near Lake Shore Drive when he went under and never came back up.
Rescue crews said the 19-year-old's friends tried to search for him, but couldn't find him so they called for help around 2:30 p.m.
Crews arrived and used sonar technology to find him. Divers recovered his body a short time later in an area that's about 8 to 10 feet deep.
"It's really tragic. I'm sitting here with the boys, saying you think water's safe and it's not. No matter how good you can swim, you can die in water," witness Brenda Lambert said.
Emergency workers said this was the first drowning they've worked on the lake this year.
The 19-year-old man's name hasn't been released.
Check back to wsoctv.com for more on this developing story.
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