Divers  found the body of  38-year-old George Willenberg, Hoisington, on Sunday morning after he went missing swimming across a cove at Rocktown at Lake Wilson Saturday evening, according to reports Russell County Sheriff’s Office. The man’s name was released Monday afternoon after notification of relatives.
On  July 6 at  8:43 p.m. the RCSO received a call of a missing man in the Rock Town area of Lake Wilson. The Sheriffs Office along with officers from Wildlife and Parks, Corp of Engineers, Russell City Fire Department, Lucas Fire Department and Russell County Emergency Management responded. It was determined Willenberg had tried to swim across on of the coves in Rock Town after the boat he was on had mechanical problems. The two people remaining with the boat advised they saw him swimming and then did not see his head come up again.
A search of the ground area around the cove was done using ATVs. At approximately 12:36 a.m. the search was suspended until daylight. At the 6 a.m. on July 7, the search continued on land and water.
At 7:46 a.m. the command post was advised that the boats searching the water had a positive response from side scan sonar where the last place the missing person was seen.
Bill Hickert a professional diver from Russell assisted and located the body at 9:24 am. The body was removed and the Russell County Assisted Coroner was contacted. The body was released to Pohlmer-Varner-Peeler Mortuary in Russell.
Alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor in the drowning.