Authorities investigate after body of Clemson student found in Lake Hartwell

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Lake Hartwell

Katie McCarthy, News Editor

The body of a Clemson University graduate student was found in Lake Hartwell early Monday morning, Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis said.Addis said authorities were called to the scene around 7 a.m. When crews arrived, they discovered the body in Lake Hartwell near the Highway 123 bridge, in an area between the Oconee and Pickens County line. Addis said the body was on the Oconee County side of the lake.Addis said the person who died is a 22-year-old man from India who was an international graduate student at Clemson University.

Addis said it appears the man jumped from the Norfolk Southern Railway train trestle that crosses the lake. Addis ruled the death a suicide.Jimmy Watt, a spokesman for the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, said the man’s death “appears to be non-suspicious.”Multiple agencies were involved in the investigation, including the Oconee County Coroner’s Office, Oconee County Sheriff’s Department, Clemson City Police Department and Clemson University Police Department.

The man’s identity has not been released.