HALL COUNTY, GA. (THECOUNT) — Madeline Sinagra has been identified as the body pulled in Lake Lanier, Georgia, according to authorities. She had been reported missing since July.

Sinagra, 31, reportedly leapt off a sailboat and became distressed in the water July 22. She had not been seen since.

Advertisement

The Hall County Sheriff’s office confirmed today that a body found in Lake Lanier is that of a woman who disappeared in the lake in July.

DNR Sgt. Mike Burgamy said Sinagra decided to go for a swim to cool off. When she jumped into the water, the strong winds began pushing the sailboat away from her. A man still on the boat tried to rescue the woman when she became tired. After attempts to throw a line to her failed, the man went after her, he told deputies. “The male reported that he then went into the water in an attempt to rescue the victim, but was unable to locate her after she went under and did not resurface,” sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks said in a statement.

Sinagra was not wearing a life jacket.

A fisherman discovered a badly decomposed female body near Bethel Park on October 12.

The remains were taken to the GBI lab in Decatur where authorities were able to identify the victim as Sinagra. The cause of death was drowning.