The cause of death for an engaged couple who were tragically found dead in a lake has been revealed.
Joycelyn Nicole Wilson and Gary Jones, who had been celebrating Jones’s 50th birthday, were found dead in Lake Oconee, Georgia, after their boat was discovered floating empty on February 8, per Fox 5 Atlanta.
Joycelyn, a 49-year-old instructor at Spelman College, and Gary, a local private school track and field coach, had shared their love story years earlier, having met at Clark Atlanta University and become engaged after reconnecting.
Wilson began teaching at Spelman College in 2007 and most recently worked as a senior instructor in the math department. Before joining Spelman, she also taught at Howard University and American University in Washington, D.C.
Jones was a longtime educator at Westminster Schools, which serves students from pre-first through 12th grade. He first joined the school in 2002, a spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY.
He served as a middle school science teacher, head of the track and field program, and head coach for Westminster’s 8th-grade boys’ basketball team.
Their 12-foot boat was found drifting near Wallace Dam; its hull later discovered damaged from striking a dock.
What makes the case eerily poignant is that authorities found Wilson clutching a smartphone in her hand.
According to ABC-affiliate WSB‑TV, the device held at least seven photos taken during the critical window before the tragedy.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills told The Atlanta Journal‑Constitution on March 4 that the images were captured “obviously” after the couple checked into their hotel on February 8 but "before the incident” on Lake Oconee.
The final photo’s timestamp read 4:59PM, and after that, the phone fell silent, leaving investigators with no clues about what happened next, Sills said. “We don’t know what happened after that,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Jones’s phone sent its last transmission at 5:01PM that same day. Mere minutes later, authorities received reports of the abandoned boat.
Authorities recovered Joycelyn’s body on February 9, approximately half a mile from the boat in the lake’s river channel, per PEOPLE.
Two days later, on February 10, divers located Gary’s shoes about 15 feet apart along the shoreline, signaling the urgency of a full-scale search effort.
Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills expressed gratitude for the community’s extraordinary involvement: “I cannot remember such an extensive use of government and civilian personnel and resources for an incident such as this on Lakes Oconee and Sinclair in the last 40 years.”
He also praised the support of volunteers: “I also want to express thanks to the many people and businesses who graciously brought food and drinks for everyone. It was most welcome and makes me very proud of our community.”
After over a month of rigorous searching, Gary’s body was finally recovered on March 9, per CBS News.
The official medical examiner’s report has since confirmed that both Wilson and Jones died from accidental drowning.