A 73-year-old Georgia man recently drowned at Abrams Falls in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and a seven-hour rescue operation involving divers was conducted to retrieve his body.

Stephen Musser of Roswell, Georgia, had been swimming in a large pool  near Abrams Falls on Friday, Aug. 27. He was caught up in the current at the base of the falls and unable to resurface.

Rangers were called to the scene at approximately 2:15 p.m. and searched the area by ground and with air support from the Army National Guard. Divers with a Special Operations Response Team from Blount County, Tennessee, finally located Musser near the base of the falls entrapped by underwater debris at 9:30 p.m.

In park history, there have been 60 drownings in park streams, including 10 near Abrams Falls. Park Rangers urge swimmers and tubers to be extremely careful when recreating in park streams.