By Alice Queen
Managing editor
Newton County rescue workers Thursday night recovered the body of a Mansfield woman who apparently drowned herself in the Alcovy River.
The apparent suicide victim has been identified as Frances parker, 52, of a Main Street address. According to officials, the woman is believed to have been distraught over family problems. She reportedly left home at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and was seen parking her car beside Highway 278 at the Alcovy River about an hour later. A witness reportedly saw the woman walk from her car to the river, back to her car, and then back to the river.
Parker was reported missing sometime later Wednesday, and officials began their search of the Alcovy River at about 3:30 that afternoon. A preliminary ground search and some diving turned up a shoe that was identified as the victim's.
The search was called off at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and resumed Thursday morning. Officials from Newton County Disaster Services, Newton County Dive Team, state Department of Natural Resources, Newton County Sheriff's Office and Newton County Fire Service participated in the search that concluded at about 6:40 p.m. Thursday.
Aiding in the effort were two search dogs from the Cleveland, Ga., Search and Rescue Dogs of Georgia (SARDOG), a non-profit, volunteer organization that lends its support in searches for humans.
According to Allen Padgett, chairman of SARDOG, the two dogs used Thursday, a Golden Retriever named Rescue and a Rottweiler named Tara, are trained to react to human scent carried on the air. Air scenting dogs are able to locate drowning victims because human scent floats and rises to the water surface.
Parker's body was reportedly found about 900 yards downstream of the Highway 278 bridge in six to eight feet of water. The Newton County Sheriff's Office took the victim's body to the state crime lab in Atlanta Friday for an autopsy.
Newton County Dive Team members who participated in the search included Team Coordinator Steve Jones, Tommy Callaway, Don Campbell and Wade Sockwell of the Covington Fire Department; Greg Capes of the Newton County Fire Department; and Ken Miller and Ben Ewing of East Newton Volunteer Fire Department.
(a picture of the river with three men wading and two in a rowboat accompanied the article, with a caption reading, "Rescue workers began their search of the Alcovy River Wednesday afternoon.")
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Page last updated 14 July 2007.