18 dead on Georgia roads over long holiday weekend

One of them was 16-year-old Laquavis McCray, who drowned Friday morning after family members saw him swimming in distress off the beach at Tybee Island, local police said. Beachgoers were able to rescue another 16-year-old, but McCray disappeared underwater. His body was later recovered by rescue divers.

A GoFundMe page set up to raise money to transport McCray’s body to Atlanta and pay for his funeral quickly reached its goal over the weekend. On the fundraising page, McCray’s family described him as “a fun-loving teenager who made us laugh with his jokes and loved to impress people with his dance moves.”

The second drowning occurred Saturday at Lake Rabun in northeast Georgia, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. Game wardens responded to reports of the drowning around 6 p.m., DNR spokesman Mark McKinnon said.

Divers found 39-year-old Robert Clinkscales in 40 to 50 feet of water near a boathouse where his phone and shoes were discovered Saturday morning, McKinnon said. Clinkscales was last seen Friday around 10:45 p.m. His body was recovered about six hours after it was discovered and turned over to the coroner, McKinnon said.

According to DPS, there was a slight decrease in traffic fatalities in the Atlanta metropolitan area over the Fourth of July weekend. Last year, five people died in crashes in the metropolitan area, while this year, three deaths were reported. One person died in a crash investigated by DeKalb County police and two died in crashes investigated by Forest Park police.

The crash in DeKalb involved a single car and a pedestrian who was struck before the vehicle crashed into a utility pole near the intersection of Glenwood and Candler roads, police said. The pedestrian, whose identity was not released, was taken to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries. The driver was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries, and the crash knocked out power to more than 400 homes in the area, according to Channel 2 Action News.

Traffic investigators are still trying to determine the circumstances of the accident. A DeKalb police spokeswoman said there was no information on whether charges would be filed against the driver.