A welfare check on December 23 revealed the truck owned by Edmond, triggering a missing-person investigation as neighbors and family later noted his extended absence beyond the usual pattern.

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources divers recovered Edmond’s body around 5:40 p.m. on December 29, while investigators continue examining the death circumstances.

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office initially responded to a reported help call at the boat ramp on December 20, locating an older-model Ford truck but no person.

An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause and manner of Edmond’s death, with drowning presumed as the likely cause.

The coroner’s office regards the death as a presumed drowning and plans an autopsy to aid the ongoing investigation.

No other injuries were reported; the investigation involves the coroner, sheriff’s office, and SC DNR, and the body was found by DNR divers in a cove near Timberlake One subdivision.

Officials have not released an official cause of death as investigators review evidence and witness statements.

Authorities believe Edmond died on the morning of December 20 while attempting to cross a cove in a small boat to go deer hunting, with exact circumstances still under investigation.

A 50-year-old man, Douglas John “DJ” Olin Edmond Jr., was found dead in Lake Hartwell on December 29, 2025, around 5:40 p.m. by DNR divers at about 36 feet deep in a cove near Timberlake One subdivision.

Edmond’s body was recovered from a cove of Lake Hartwell at roughly 36 feet, with local authorities continuing the case.

Divers from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, coordinating with the Oconee County Sheriff’s Department, located and retrieved Edmond on December 29 at about 5:40 p.m. in a cove near the Timberlake One subdivision in Seneca.