By Alison Glass
Independent-Mail
April 24, 2004

A search to find 14-year-old Nathaniel Thomas Hill IV, who went missing while swimming with friends in Hartwell Lake Thursday night, came to a horrible conclusion Saturday with the discovery of the boy’s death.

Divers found Nathaniel, an eighth-grader at Riverside Middle School in Pendleton, around 12:30 p.m. Saturday in roughly eight feet of water, said Greg Krakos, Anderson County emergency medical service coordinator. Nathaniel’s parents were on the scene at the time, said Anderson County Sheriff’s Capt. Dale McCard.

Mark Thompson and Fred Towe found Nathaniel about 15 feet away from a dock in the area where divers understand the teen entered the water, said Deputy Anderson County Coroner Don McCown.

The two divers were using a buddy rope and repeating one of their previous search patterns, Mr. Krakos said.
"With the water being as murky as it, it never hurts to sweep the same area," he said.

Nathaniel apparently swam about 56 feet before he went under water, the deputy coroner said.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday at Anderson Area Medical Center, Mr. McCown said.

Family members could not be reached for comment Saturday.

"In class, when it was time for group work, everyone wanted to be in Nate’s group," said Riverside Principal Kevin Black. "Nate would always look around to see which student was working by themselves and go work with them. He made all of our students feel good about themselves. Although he was only with us about half of the year, he was a joy to be around, and our students will always remember his smile."Marie Dahill, whose son is a seventh-grader at Riverside, said students were very upset Friday to hear that Nathaniel was missing and were "so hopeful" he would be found.

"You just don’t want anything like that to happen to any child," she said.Nathaniel’s family members said he was fairly good swimmer, and officials are not sure why the boy drowned, the deputy coroner said. The boy recently had moved to a home in a Sandy Springs neighborhood, Mr. Krakos said.

Capt. McCard said authorities knew of no signs as of Saturday that the death was not accidental.

Nathaniel was swimming with two friends who left the water before he did and did not see him when they returned to look for him, authorities said. No one was with the teen when he drowned, Mr. McCown said.

Rescuers worked from 9 p.m. Thursday until 7:30 p.m. Friday, with a few hours off early Friday morning, before resuming work around 10 a.m. Saturday, Mr. Krakos said.

The recovery operation off Rowland Road, near the intersection of Centerville and Sandy Springs roads, involved several agencies and counties. The effort utilized more than 20 divers, private and public boats, several search dogs, underwater search cameras and the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office helicopter.

The MedShore dive team, the Anderson County Emergency Rescue Team, city of Anderson technical rescue team, the Sandy Springs and Zion fire departments, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources aided in the search, Capt. McCard said.

"It really was a huge effort on many people’s parts," Mr. Krakos said.

Rescue workers are grateful to all those who supported them by bringing them food and other provisions, he said.

Alison Glass can be reached at (864) 260-1275 or by e-mail at glassag@IndependentMail.com.